Offenders

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Law enforcement agencies reporting hate crime data to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program in 2008 identified 6,927 known offenders in 7,783 bias-motivated incidents. In the UCR Program, the term known offender does not imply that the suspect’s identity is known; rather, the term indicates that some aspect of the suspect was identified, thus distinguishing the suspect from an unknown offender. Law enforcement agencies specify the number of offenders and, when possible, the apparent race of the offender or offenders as a group.

By race

A review of available race data reported in 2008 for the 6,927 known hate crime offenders revealed that:

• 61.1 percent were white.
• 20.2 percent were black.
• 5.9 percent were groups made up of individuals of various races (multiple races, group).
• 1.1 percent were Asian/Pacific Islander.
• 0.7 percent were American Indian/Alaskan Native.
• 11.0 percent were unknown. (Based on Table 9.)

By crime category

Crimes against persons

A total of 5,613 known hate crime offenders committed offenses that were crimes against persons in 2008. Of these offenders:

• 37.3 percent intimidated their victims.
• 36.7 percent committed simple assault.
• 25.0 percent committed aggravated assault.
• 0.5 percent murdered or raped their victims.
• 0.4 percent committed other types of offenses, which are collected only in the UCR Program’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). (Based on Table 2.)

Crimes against property

A total of 1,758 known hate crime offenders committed offenses that were crimes against property in 2008. Of these offenders:

• 62.5 percent committed destruction/damage/vandalism.
• 18.0 percent committed robbery.
• 8.2 percent committed larceny-theft.
• 6.1 percent committed burglary.
• 2.4 percent committed arson.
• 0.9 percent committed motor vehicle theft.
• 1.9 percent committed other types of offenses, which are collected only in the NIBRS. (Based on Table 2.)

Crimes against society

In 2008, 27 known offenders committed 18 offenses that were crimes against society involving 18 victims. Crimes against society are collected only via the NIBRS. (See Table 2.)

November 2009