For Immediate Release
January 21, 1999

Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office

Hate Crime Statistics,1997 (in PDF)

The FBI released today the following hate crime statistics for 1997:

During 1997, there were 8,049 bias-motivated criminal incidents reported to the FBI by 11,211 law enforcement agencies in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Of the 8,049 incidents, 4,710 were motivated by racial bias; 1,385 by religious bias; 1,102 by sexual-orientation bias; 836 by ethnicity/national origin bias; 12 by disability bias; and 4 by multiple biases.

Crimes against persons composed 70 percent of the 9,861 offenses reported. Intimidation was the single most frequently reported hate crime among all offenses measured, accounting for 39 percent of the total. Destruction/damage/vandalism of property accounted for 26 percent of the total offenses, followed by simple assault at 18 percent and aggravated assault at 13 percent.

Eight persons were murdered in 1997 in incidents motivated by hate. Racial bias motivated 5 of the murders, and sexual-orientation bias the remaining 3.

Eight of every 10 of the 10,255 reported hate crime victims were individuals (people), while the remaining victims were businesses, religious organizations, or various other targets. Nearly six of every 10 victims were attacked because of their race, with bias against blacks accounting for 39 percent of the total victims. Of the 1,586 victims of religious bias crimes, 65 percent were targets of crimes against property.

In 1997, the majority of reported hate crime incidents, 30 percent, occurred in/on residential properties. Incidents perpetrated on highways/roads/alleys/streets accounted for 21 percent, while 11 percent occurred at schools or colleges. The remaining incidents were widely distributed among various locations.

It is important to note that the agencies participating in the hate crime data collection program in 1997 represented nearly 223 million United States inhabitants or 83 percent of the population. While not all agencies are participating in the hate crime program, reports from those which do participate offer perspectives on the general nature of hate crime occurrence.