Local News

Actions

Nevada hate crime numbers buck national trend

FBI statistics show 17 percent increase in U.S.
Posted at 8:21 PM, Nov 13, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-13 23:21:25-05

Newly released hate crime statistics from the FBI show nationwide the crimes are up 17 percent in 2017 but show Nevada fell to just 5 hate crimes reported from 42 the year before.

The Silver State numbers appear even more skewed when compared to 2014 and 2015 which show 24 and 58 hate crimes statewide respectively.

 "We want to get accurate numbers," Jolie Brislin, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League said of the report.

The group has been tracking anti-Semitic hate speech nationwide and in Nevada and says the numbers reported don't match the trends they are recording.

"We need them to be reporting number because we can't do better if we don't know.  We can't hold each other accountable if we don't have the right numbers," Brislin said.

The ADL shows a nearly 60 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents nationwide with incidents more than doubling in Nevada as well.

 "When we know that these hate incidents around the country are on the rise and we see them locally as well, I have a hard time believing these are the numbers that are accurate," Brislin said.

The FBI report acknowledges departments need to get better about reporting the crimes and plan to offer training to officers on identifying hate crimes and reporting them.

Brislin welcomes the training but says the FBI numbers will never fully reflect the full scope of hate incidents because the numbers only show crimes and not incidents of hate speech that are just as concerning.

"We have to be very careful because we know that the increase in non-criminal activity that takes place ultimately leads to hate crimes," Brislin said.

The ADL Regional Director said even though the numbers aren't reflected on the FBI statistics, local police are working with community leaders to address their concerns when hate incidents pop up.