U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee - Larry E. Craig, Chairman - Jade West, Staff Director
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May 20, 2002

Latest Facts on Crimes and "Hate Crimes"

"Hate Crimes" Versus All Crimes

The Majority Leader has said that he intends to call up, perhaps soon, the "hate-crimes" bill that is pending on the Senate Calendar (S. 625, order no. 103). If the Senate is going to consider a "hate-crimes" bill, it would be well to know how "hate crimes" fit within the context of all crimes.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation publishes two essential books of crime statistics, CRIME IN THE UNITED STATES (often called the "Uniform Crime Reports"), an annual compilation of major crimes reported to the police, and HATE CRIME STATISTICS, an annual report of crimes motivated by bias (i.e., because of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation). The books for the year 2000 are the latest available, and the crime numbers shown below are from those two sources exclusively.

  • In the year 2000, 9,430 "hate crimes" were reported to police. However, 7,672 of those crimes (81 percent) are of such relatively minor consequence that they are not even counted in the Uniform Crime Reports. The "hate crimes" numbers are inflated because they include minor crimes such as simple assaults, vandalism, and even "intimidation."

  • 1,424,289 murders, rapes, aggravated assaults, and robberies were reported in 2000; 1,346 of these were "hate crimes" (0.09 percent). In short, 1,057 violent crimes were motivated by all other causes for every one that was motivated by officially designated "hate."

  • There were 10,181,462 property crimes reported in the United States in 2000 (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft); 263 of these were "hate crimes" (0.003 percent). Therefore, for every 38,712 property crimes that were motivated by all other causes, one was motivated by officially designated "hate."

  • 15,517 murders were reported in 2000. Nineteen of these were reported to have been motivated by "hate." To understand this evil in context, remember that 408 children were murdered by a parent, 30 children were murdered by a babysitter, and 580 children under the age of nine were murdered. Fire was the weapon in 128 murders.

  • Of the 90,186 rapes reported in the United States in 2000, four were reported to have been motivated by officially designated "hate."

Crime Reported in the United States, 2000

All Crimes Hate Crimes Hate Crimes As a % of All Crimes Ratio of All Other Motivations To "Hate" Motivation
          Violent Crime
Murder 15,517 19 0.122% 816:1
Rape 90,186 4 0.004% 22,546:1
Robbery* 407,842 139 0.003% 2,933:1
Aggravated Assault 910,744 1,184 0.130% 768:1
Other Crimes Against Persons:
Simple Assault not counted 1,615 --- ---
Intimidation not counted 3,292 --- ---
Other not counted 16 --- ---
          Total Violent Crime 1,424,289
          Property Crime
Burglary 2,049,946 138 0.007% 14,854:1
Larceny-Theft 6,965,957 114 0.002% 61,104:1
Motor Vehicle Theft 1,165,559 11 0.009% 105,959:1
Destruction/Damage/Vandalism not counted 2,765 --- ---
Other not counted 22 --- ---
          Total Property Crime 10,181,462
Arson** 68,756 52 0.076 1,321:1
Crimes Against Society not counted 59
          Total "Hate Crimes" 9,430

Supporters of "hate-crimes" law must acknowledge these numbers, but they believe that "hate crimes" are so destructive to society that they demand the special attention of the Federal Government. By this reasoning, each "hate crime" is more destructive than every other crime: A murder in which the assailant yelled a racial epithet as he shot his victim is considered more destructive to society and of more concern to the Federal Government than a murder in which a child is kidnapped, raped, and killed by torture. Only the former is a "hate crime."

Notes for chart:

* HATE CRIME STATISTICS inexplicably counts "robbery" as a property crime; we have counted it as a crime of violence as does the Uniform Crime Reports.

** Arson is a property crime, but the FBI regards arson numbers as highly unreliable, and does not count them in the total of property crimes in the Uniform Reports. Accordingly, we too have shown the arson number but not counted it in the total for all crimes. The Government does, though, include an arson number in the "hate crimes" total.

The percentages shown in columns 3 and 4 were calculated by RPC.

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