Hi Jeff: The question is the accuracy of all federal crime statistics. There should be an attempt to, as you state, to look under the hood of all federal data to place it within a meaningful context. The feds won't do it because it would create disagreements and negative media.
In this case, the National Crime Victimization Survey probably provides the more accurate statistics. Per my article:
"The FBI is reporting 10,840 hate crime incidents compared to the Bureau of Justice Statistics 247,000 yearly figure. The difference is so large that it makes an understanding of the problem complex.
For policy matters, it seems that the data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics via a survey is more impactful based on much larger numbers to analyze. Methodology 101, the larger the numbers, the more accurate the results.
Readers need to understand the dynamics of hate crime reports (i.e., reasons for not reporting incidents-crimes committed by someone the victim knows). Numbers can be meaningless without context. Bias statements between friends or associates are likely going to be substantially different in nature when compared to stranger-to-stranger violence.
Settling disputes between people who know each other is often seen as a private matter that does not require police intervention.
According to the Bureau Of Justice Statistics, hate crimes offenders were most likely to be men (72%) and strangers (56%), which means that close to half of the victims knew their offenders (editor’s notes, for context, most violent crime happens between people who know each other).
In the final analysis, federal data on hate crimes seems wildly inconsistent. The US Department of Justice needs to create readable and understandable reports combining FBI and Bureau of Justice Statistics numbers and rates plus explanations to make sense of the data. Not doing so leads to misinterpretations or falsehoods.
Based on the two federal sources, one can make any claim they want as to increases (or lack of increases), who’s affected, and victimization based on groups."
We live in a world where reporters and politicians will grab headlines and go with them without "looking under the hood." That doesn't serve us and our understanding of crime.
I hate the fact that someone thought there needed to be a separate category for "hate" crimes. There, I did it, I committed a hate crime.
Hi Jeff: The question is the accuracy of all federal crime statistics. There should be an attempt to, as you state, to look under the hood of all federal data to place it within a meaningful context. The feds won't do it because it would create disagreements and negative media.
See my thoughts on hate crimes at https://www.crimeinamerica.net/explaining-wildly-divergent-hate-crime-numbers/
In this case, the National Crime Victimization Survey probably provides the more accurate statistics. Per my article:
"The FBI is reporting 10,840 hate crime incidents compared to the Bureau of Justice Statistics 247,000 yearly figure. The difference is so large that it makes an understanding of the problem complex.
For policy matters, it seems that the data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics via a survey is more impactful based on much larger numbers to analyze. Methodology 101, the larger the numbers, the more accurate the results.
Readers need to understand the dynamics of hate crime reports (i.e., reasons for not reporting incidents-crimes committed by someone the victim knows). Numbers can be meaningless without context. Bias statements between friends or associates are likely going to be substantially different in nature when compared to stranger-to-stranger violence.
Settling disputes between people who know each other is often seen as a private matter that does not require police intervention.
According to the Bureau Of Justice Statistics, hate crimes offenders were most likely to be men (72%) and strangers (56%), which means that close to half of the victims knew their offenders (editor’s notes, for context, most violent crime happens between people who know each other).
In the final analysis, federal data on hate crimes seems wildly inconsistent. The US Department of Justice needs to create readable and understandable reports combining FBI and Bureau of Justice Statistics numbers and rates plus explanations to make sense of the data. Not doing so leads to misinterpretations or falsehoods.
Based on the two federal sources, one can make any claim they want as to increases (or lack of increases), who’s affected, and victimization based on groups."
We live in a world where reporters and politicians will grab headlines and go with them without "looking under the hood." That doesn't serve us and our understanding of crime.
Best, Len.
There’s no such thing as a hate crime, there’s only crime...