FBI Releases Oregon Hate Crime Data for 2014

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Brendan Murray, GoLocalPDX Contributor

The number of hate crimes reported in Oregon plummeted last year, according to newly released FBI data. In 2014, there were 38 total offenses tied to hate crimes, while, in 2013, there were 97. Of cities that reported hate crimes to the FBI, Sutherlin led the state in crimes per capita.

SEE SLIDES BELOW: See the 10 Oregon Cities and Towns with the Most Hate Crimes in 2014

Bill Fugate, a public information officer for the Oregon State Police, told GoLocal that the drop in hate crimes over the course of the past year shows that Oregon’s criminal justice system is “working well.”

“Obviously hate crime data is something that we always want to see decreasing,” Fugate said. “If hate crimes are dropping like they are, I would say that is a good sign that our criminal justice system here in Oregon is working well.”

Sutherlin Has the Most Hate Crimes per Capita

Gayla Holley, a spokeswoman with the Sutherlin Police Department, told GoLocal that she was surprised to see the small city of just 7,729 lead the state in reported hate crimes.

“Honestly hate crimes in our area, while they are very serious, and no one deserves to be treated that way, are few and far between,” Holley said. “We treat them just as we would treat any other crime. If the motivation is there, if someone committed a crime because they were motivated by some type of bias, then we will designate it as a hate crime and make sure we investigate to find out how and why it happened.”

Holley said that Sutherlin Police reported two hate crimes in 2014. One, which actually occurred in late 2013 but not reported until 2014, involved violence against a girl’s sexual orientation by her own parents. When the parents found out their daughter was bisexual, Holley said, they turned violent and held the daughter against her will before eventually being arrested.

The other incident, which occurred in June of 2014, was a case of simple assault against a Hispanic man, Holley said. The Hispanic man was walking down the street when he was pushed and assaulted by three other men. While the attack occurred, the suspects shouted racial slurs at the man. No arrests were made in the case, according to Holley.

Hate Crimes Across the Country

According to the FBI date, in 2013, 1,826 law enforcement agencies reported 5,479 hate crime incidents involving 6,418 offenses. This total is down from 2013 when 5,928 hate crimes were reported. The FBI states, "the victim of a hate crime can be an individual, a business, an institution, or society as a whole. Law enforcement can indicate the number of individual victims, the number of victims 18 years of age and older, and the number of victims under the age of 18."

Analysis of the single-bias incidents shows that nearly half were racially motivated. More than 18 percent were motivated by sexual-orientation bias, and 19 percent resulted from religious bias. More than ten percent were due to ethnicity bias.

66 percent of the racially motivated incidents were motivated by anti-Black or African American bias. More than twenty percent were motivated by anti-White bias.

There were 1,017 hate crimes in the United States stemming from sexual-orientation bias. More than 58 percent were anti-gay bias towards men, and 13 percent were anti-gay bias towards lesbians. 24 percent were prompted by bias towards mixed groups of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender individuals.

Of the 6,933 reported hate crime offenses in 2013, 27 percent were intimidation. Over 26 percent of the hate crimes were a result of destruction, damage or vandalism. More than 35 percent of the hate crimes were incidents of assault.