Congressman Dan Goldman Demands Action on the Underreporting of Hate Crimes

Goldman Calls for Review of National Incident-Based Reporting System Compliance by Law enforcement Agencies
 
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New York, NY – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) this week joined with other members of the New York delegation in calling on the Department of Justice to provide an overview of law enforcement agency compliance with hate crime reporting requirements. While anti-Asian hate crimes have increased by over 300 percent and antisemitic incidents rose by over 30 percent, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) 2021 Hate Crimes Statistic report found that a significant number of law enforcement agencies had failed to report hate crimes through the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System. Congressman Goldman is calling on the Department of Justice to review this underreporting and work to bring law enforcement agencies into compliance.
 
“In the past years we have seen an exponential rise in the number of hate crimes and there is no excuse for law enforcement agencies to fall out of compliance with reporting requirements,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “The National Incident-Based Reporting System is one of the best tools we have to accurately capture crime data to evaluates and identify solutions that can help us mitigate hate crimes. At a time when New York City alone has seen an increase of Anti-Asian hate crimes by 100 percent and antisemitic incidents by more than 50 percent, it is imperative that we do everything in our power to curb incidences of hateful violence, including properly monitoring the number of hate crimes around the country.”
 
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) 2021 Hate Crimes Statistics report, originally released late last year, found that a significant number of law enforcement agencies had failed to report hate crimes through the FBI’s NIBRS data collection system, resulting in unreliable data and artificially low numbers of hate incidents as compared to previous years. 2021 was the first year that the FBI fully transitioned from its original reporting mechanism, the Summary Reporting System (SRS), to NIBRS. The National Incident-Based Reporting System captures greater specificity and context about each individual crime SRS, making it easier for law enforcement agencies to obtain the information needed to combat hate crimes.
 
New York’s 10th Congressional District is home to one of the largest and most historic Asian communities in the country. Anti-Asian hate crimes have increased in New York City by more than 100 percent in a single year; throughout the entire country, anti-Asian hate crimes are up by more than 300 percent.  
 
New York is also home to a significant Jewish population with New York’s 10th Congressional District having one of the largest Jewish populations in the country. Last year, the Anti-Defamation League found a 34 percent increase in antisemitic incidents from 2020 to 2021. A survey conducted by the American Jewish Committee found that in the last five years, 82 percent of Jews noticed an increase in antisemitism and 26 percent of Jews said they were a target of an antisemitic incident.
 
Congressman Goldman is a member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and the Bipartisan Antisemitism Task Force.

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