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Hate crimes over time (FBI numbers)
Mar. 28th, 2010 10:32 amI compiled this from the FBI Hate Crime statistics data in response to a friend's post stating that we're getting more violent and hateful as a nation. Here's the number of hate crime incidents per year since the FBI started collecting these stats in '95:
2008: 7,783
2007: 7,624
2006: 7,722
2005: 7,163
2004: 7,649
2003: 7,489
2002: 7,462
2001: 9,730
2000: 8,063
1999: 7,876
1998: 7,755
1997: 8,049
1996: 8,759
1995: 7.947
To me, considering we're a country of 300 million plus, the amount of hate crimes is pretty minimal: ~7500-8000 incidents each year, and that number hasn't bounced much from that range since the FBI started collecting statistics on it in '92. The outlier is the 9,730 in 2001, but that settled back down to 7,462 in 2002 and hasn't topped 7,800 since. The numbers just don't seem to bear out that we're getting more hateful and violent.
Note: this assumes the same methodology and definitions are being used from year to year.
UPDATE: Paul Becker, who I went to grad school with and knows more about these numbers than I, posted this reply in Facebook:
2001 was because of hate crimes in the aftermath of 9/11
One of the problems with hate crime stats is that every state defines them differently. In Ohio it's a 'hate crime' to call someone up and harass them on the phone because of their race or religion but it's not a hate crime to kill them for the same reasons.
Numbers are also low because there may not be the evidence needed to prove it was motivated by hate (if someone who is gay is physically assaulted, was it because of their sexual orientation or because they cut in front of someone on the highway?)
UPDATE 2: Instapundit reminds readers that there were cases of politics-related violence during the Bush years as well, particularly around the '04 election. So, nothing new about people getting worked up and having a few of them act out in extreme ways, whether its a particular issue like health care or a Presidential election. We've been down this road before, and those incidents didn't signify anything bigger down the road.
2008: 7,783
2007: 7,624
2006: 7,722
2005: 7,163
2004: 7,649
2003: 7,489
2002: 7,462
2001: 9,730
2000: 8,063
1999: 7,876
1998: 7,755
1997: 8,049
1996: 8,759
1995: 7.947
To me, considering we're a country of 300 million plus, the amount of hate crimes is pretty minimal: ~7500-8000 incidents each year, and that number hasn't bounced much from that range since the FBI started collecting statistics on it in '92. The outlier is the 9,730 in 2001, but that settled back down to 7,462 in 2002 and hasn't topped 7,800 since. The numbers just don't seem to bear out that we're getting more hateful and violent.
Note: this assumes the same methodology and definitions are being used from year to year.
UPDATE: Paul Becker, who I went to grad school with and knows more about these numbers than I, posted this reply in Facebook:
2001 was because of hate crimes in the aftermath of 9/11
One of the problems with hate crime stats is that every state defines them differently. In Ohio it's a 'hate crime' to call someone up and harass them on the phone because of their race or religion but it's not a hate crime to kill them for the same reasons.
Numbers are also low because there may not be the evidence needed to prove it was motivated by hate (if someone who is gay is physically assaulted, was it because of their sexual orientation or because they cut in front of someone on the highway?)
UPDATE 2: Instapundit reminds readers that there were cases of politics-related violence during the Bush years as well, particularly around the '04 election. So, nothing new about people getting worked up and having a few of them act out in extreme ways, whether its a particular issue like health care or a Presidential election. We've been down this road before, and those incidents didn't signify anything bigger down the road.
