University of New Hampshire to Collect Data on Hate Crimes in America

Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have received funding from the U.S. Department of Justice to launch a three-year study to collect nationally representative information on rates and characteristics of hate crime investigations by law enforcement.

For the project, the research team will survey 3,000 law enforcement agencies and 250 prosecutors across the country. The researchers will analyze what types of crimes and offenders are being investigated, and which law enforcement investigation policies and practices seem to be promising in terms of responding to these crimes and protecting victims. The researchers hope that their effort will improve the reliability and consistency of hate crime data.

“Hate crime reporting is voluntary for law enforcement agencies and there are big gaps,” said Lisa Jones, research associate professor of psychology in the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire and lead investigator on the study. “A large percentage of agencies cite an absence of hate crimes, even some in large, high-crime areas, so there are clearly problems with the system that are important to solve. We are hoping our research can help the DOJ plan for ways to improve the reliability of the data on hate crimes, and more generally to improve law enforcement efforts to document and investigate these cases.”

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Students at Three HBCUs in New Orleans to Participate in Power of Prosperity Initiative

The Power of Prosperity program will help remove barriers to students’ academic success by providing students and their families with free access to financial support and resources.

Yale University Scholar Wins Early Career Physics Award

Charles D. Brown II, an assistant professor of physics at Yale University, has been selected as the winner the Joseph A. Johnson Award for Excellence from the American Institute of Physics and the National Society of Black Physicists.

Three African Americans Appointed to New Administrative Posts at Universities

Arthur Lumzy Jr. is the new director of student career preparedness at Texas A&M University–Commerce. Sandra L. Barnes was named associate provost for undergraduate education and student success at Alcorn State University in Mississippi and Roberto Campos-Marquetti has been appointed assistant vice president for staff and labor relations at Duke University.

North Carolina A&T State University to Debut New Graduate Programs in Criminal Justice

The university's criminal justice master’s and doctoral programs are designed to provide high-quality graduate education and training in criminal justice with the four areas of specialization: investigative science, digital forensics, research methodology, and social justice.

Featured Jobs