South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Florida police agencies report few, sometimes zero, hate crimes
State Senate president orders investigation into ‘white nationalism’ and its role in violence
Hate crimes are on the rise in Florida, but the state’s law enforcement agencies aren’t doing a good job of documenting them, experts say.
Florida is one of the worst offenders when it comes to a nationwide problem of inadequate reporting of hate crime, said Brian Levin, director of Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.
“Large Florida cities have been notorious for having among the worst hate crime reporting in the nation,” Levin said. “I don’t know what is going on there, but somebody should shake something up.”
The issue of hate-fueled violence caught the attention of Florida Senate President Bill Galvano after a gunman upset about a “Hispanic invasion” opened fire in El Paso, Texas, killing 22 people. Galvano, R-Bradenton, ordered an investigation into “white nationalism” in Florida and its
When lawmakers review statistics, they’ll see suspiciously low numbers. Florida law allows prosecutors to seek enhanced penalties for crimes motivated by a person’s race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, homeless status or advanced age.
Florida reported 169 hate crimes statewide in 2017, up 36% from the previous year, according to the most recent statistics available from the state attorney general.
But the number is much lower than what other jurisdictions report. New York has roughly the same population as Florida, but it reported 552 hate crimes statewide to the FBI in 2017, more than three times as many as Florida. The city of Boston documented 140 hate crimes, just 29 fewer than the entire state of Florida.
Several large Florida cities, including Miami, St. Petersburg and Tallahassee, reported zero hate crime incidents to the FBI for 2017. While Miami had zero hate crimes, just over the bridge, Miami Beach documented 16.
Broward County had the highest number of reported hate crimes in the state at 40. The Broward Sheriff’s Office, including cities it polices, reported 17 hate crimes. The Fort Lauderdale Police Department documented nine, followed by Davie with seven, Sunrise with three, Wilton Manors with three and Hollywood with one.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office, including cities it covers, reported three hate crimes. The West Palm Beach Police Department reported two. Delray Beach and Boca Raton both reported one hate crime.
The Orlando Police Department reported eight hate crimes. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office documented two, and the Winter Park Police Department reported one.
Even the state attorney general’s report notes that there are variances in how agencies report hate crime data. Through a spokeswoman, Attorney General Ashley Moody referred questions
about hate crime to the state’s 20 elected prosecutors and law enforcement.
David Barkey, an Anti-Defamation League lawyer based in Florida, said overtaxed police officers face challenges in compiling the information needed to successfully prosecute hate crimes. While some agencies, such as Miami Beach, make it a priority to train officers and document hate crime incidents, others don’t.
“Do I think Florida is a bastion of love where there aren’t as many hate crimes?” he asked. “No, I think there is an under-reporting.”
Crimes motivated by the victim’s race represented about 46% of hate crimes, followed by religion at 27% percent; sexual orientation at 23% and national origin at 4% percent, according to the state’s report.
Florida has 75 hate groups, second only to California’s 83, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Stormfront, the Internet’s oldest white supremacist website, is based in West Palm Beach. The list includes anti-Muslim, antigay, racist, neo-nazi, black nationalist and anti-immigrant groups.
While police agencies must report hate crime data to the state, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement does not have the authority to conduct audits to check for accuracy. The FDLE also doesn’t have the authority to mandate that law enforcement agencies follow training protocols and policies on hate crime.
Sheriff: Victims don’t report hate crimes
Bob Gualtieri, president of the Florida Sheriffs Association, said he thinks the low number of reported hate crimes has more to do with victims being reluctant to come forward than officers filing incomplete reports.
Hate crime wasn’t a topic of discussion at a conference of sheriffs last month, said Gualtieri, who is sheriff of Pinellas County.
“If people don’t report, we are not going to have the information, and it is not going to accurately reflect what is occurring,” he said.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office reported one hate crime in 2017.
Federal statistics show that many hate crime victims never come forward to police because they might distrust authorities or not take the matter seriously. The FBI reported more than 7,100 hate crime incidents in 2017. But the federal National Crime Victimization Survey, which collects data on unreported crime, estimated as many as 250,000 hate crimes occur each year.
Gualtieri said agencies should consider public awareness campaigns that would encourage victims to report hate crimes. Immigration advocates worry the state’s crackdown on so-called sanctuary city policies that offer protections to undocumented immigrants could have the opposite effect and
discourage people from reporting crimes.
Evidence also exists that agencies don’t properly classify hate crimes. California reports hate crimes at a higher rate than Florida, but the California state auditor concluded in May 2018 “law enforcement has not been doing enough to identify, report, and respond to these crimes”
For example, from 2014 through
2016, the Los Angeles Police Department and San Francisco State University Police Department failed to correctly identify 11 of the
30 cases the auditor reviewed, even though the cases met the elements of hate crimes.
Law enforcement agencies say they are taking hate crime seriously and have programs that aim to prevent it. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office partners with the Anti-Defamation League to teach elementary school students not to hate, said Teri Barbera, a PBSO spokeswoman.
Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said prosecuting hate crime is challenging both because of under-reporting and burden of proof.
“You need to go into the perpetrator’s intent, which can be a challenge under the law,” he said. “Sometimes, there is a mixed intent.”
For instance, a person who assaults a driver after a fender-bender while yelling racial slurs might not be charged with a hate crime. The offender can argue the car crash instead of race was the motivating factor.
Florida has tracked hate crime since 1991. Hate crimes hit a record high in 1992 with 395 reported statewide. The number dipped and fluctuated during the ’90s but spiked in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with 335 reported hate crimes in 2001. The number hit a record low in 2014 at 73, but it’s been climbing since then, reaching 169 in 2017.
Lawmakers search for solutions
Sen. Tom Lee, who will lead the Senate’s investigation, said developing strategies for better monitoring of hate crimes could be on the agenda as lawmakers search for ways to prevent the next mass shooting. Lee said gun control could enter into the discussion, a topic that the Republican-led Senate has been hesitant to resist.
“The president of the Senate should be commended for trying to get in front of this,” said Lee, R-Thonotosassa. “It’s been quiet in Florida for a short period of time. Given the trends, it’s hard to believe we won’t have another situation develop.”
Earlier this year, the Legislature imposed fines and more oversight of schools that fail to accurately report campus crime data after a South Florida Sun Sentinel investigation uncovered under-reporting.
Advocates want to fill gaps in the state’s hate crime law, including adding explicit protections for people targeted because of their gender or gender identity. They also want to clarify that crimes committed with mixed motives can also be charged as a hate crime.
The debate will play out in an increasingly toxic and divided political environment. Florida hasn’t been immune from politically motivated attacks. Cesar Sayoc, 57, a South Florida resident and ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison for mailing inoperative pipe bombs to the president’s political foes.
The Anti-Defamation League’s Barkey said leaders should choose their words wisely.
“The Holocaust didn’t start with the gas chamber,” he said. “It started with words.”