The integral role of training in the implementation of hate crime legislation

Legislature began to focus on minorities and the issues of hate crime in the 1970's. Since that time the topic of hate crime has become a widespread issue for debate. This research focuses on the association between law enforcement training and the implementation of hate crime legislation. The Anti-Defamation League's state hate crime statutory provisions and the U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation's Hate Crime Reporting by States data are examined in this study. The thesis is broken up into five main sections. Section one is the Introduction and it includes the following: What Constitutes Hate?, The History of Hate Crime Legislation, and Issues Facing Hate Crime Legislation. Section two contains a Literature Survey on both Hate Crime Legislation and the Training of Law Enforcement Officers. Section three is the Material and Methods that discusses the Anti-Defamation League data, and the U.S. Department of Justice data in detail and explains the methods used to test the association between law enforcement training and reporting of hate crime legislation. Chapter four is the Results and Discussion section that describes the association found between law enforcement training and reporting of hate crime legislation. The findings of this study yield a statistically significant association between law enforcement training and reporting of hate crime legislation that needs to be explored in greater detail in future studies.