Hate crime rates have dropped statewide, according to recent FBI and state police reports, but the scope of the problem could be skewed by discrepancies in reporting guidelines.
Maryland saw 150 hate crimes in 2007, compared with 212 in 2006, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report of the most recent figures.
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However, a 2007 Maryland State Police report showed 427 hate crimes statewide.
“We collect numbers from local law enforcement, as required, and turn them over to the FBI,” said state police spokesman Greg Shipley.
“But our numbers are only as good as the numbers being reported to local law enforcement, so our hope is that victims are reporting the incidents to police.”
The differences in hate crime numbers can be attributed to different reporting guidelines at county, state and federal levels, according to state police.
The FBI report only includes crime-based data for 11 types of offenses that are motivated by an offender’s bias and punishable by arrest. The offenses include:
• Crimes against people: murder and non-negligent manslaughter; forcible rape; aggravated assault; simple assault; and intimidation;
• Crimes against property: robbery; burglary; larceny and theft; motor vehicle theft; destruction, damage and vandalism; and arson
The state police records all reported offenses in which the victim perceives a bias, even if the incident isn’t considered criminal activity within the 11 offenses tracked by the FBI.
The numbers also can be skewed by differences in hate crime criteria. For example, the FBI considers a hate crime to be motivated by “bias toward race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity or disability,” said Stephen Fischer, an FBI spokesman.
But states have their own criteria for classifying hate crimes. Twenty states, including Maryland, don’t include sexual orientation as a motivation for hate crimes, and six states have no hate crime statutes, state police said.
The leading motivation for Maryland hate crimes continues to be racial bias, according to the state police report.
More than 60 percent of hate crimes in 2007 were racially motivated, followed by religion, sexual orientation and ethnicity. No incidents involving disability were reported in 2007, according to the state police report.
Baltimore County remained the highest-reporting jurisdiction, with 21.1 percent of the state’s total incidents. Anne Arundel reported 57 incidents, Montgomery 56, Prince George’s 48 and Howard 63, according to the state police report.
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