蜜桃传媒: Improving hate crime reporting and prosecution daunting but crucial task
We applaud Attorney General Jeff Sessions鈥� commitment to vigorously enforcing our nation鈥檚 hate crime laws.
Unfortunately, we think he鈥檚 likely to have his hands full.
, the divisive rhetoric of last year鈥檚 presidential campaign has energized the radical right and emboldened white supremacists. A number of cities have already reported upticks in hate crimes this year.
We also appreciate General Sessions鈥� commitment to improving hate crime reporting because, the truth is, the reporting system is woefully inadequate.
罢辞诲补测鈥檚 proves the point. It estimates that about 250,000 hate crimes occurred in 2015. Yet, the official FBI hate crime report for 2015 shows that law enforcement agencies from across the country reported .
To put this into perspective, England and Wales 鈥� which have a combined population one-fifth the size of the United States 鈥� in about the same time period.
That鈥檚 10 times as many offenses as the FBI recorded here for a country five times as large as England and Wales combined.
We urge General Sessions and the Justice Department to dramatically improve the process of reporting hate crimes and to vigorously push back against white supremacist activity in our country.
