Mountain States

Serving Colorado, New Mexico & Wyoming

ADL Calls Colorado Hate Crime Stats Reported in FBI Report Troubling; Calls for Comprehensive Reporting Procedures and Continued Education

  • October 29, 2008

Reacting to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) annual report documenting hate crimes in America, the Mountain States Region of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed concern about the “troubling” prevalence of violent bigotry in Colorado and called for “a renewed commitment to making Colorado no place for hate.”
In Colorado, 213 law enforcement agencies participated in the data collection effort, down from 220 agencies last year. Nationally, 13,000 law enforcement agencies participated, the largest number of police agencies ever. Yet, only 15.3 percent of those agencies reported even a single hate crime, while over 4,000 agencies did not participate in the reporting program at all.

The total number of reported hate crimes in Colorado increased from 138 incidents in 2006 to 156 incidents in 2007. While the number of hate crimes based on religion decreased in 2007, Colorado experienced a significant rise in hate crimes based on race, sexual orientation and ethnicity.

“The significant, overall increase in bias-motivated crimes in Colorado in 2007 is very troubling and indicates a need for state-wide, comprehensive reporting procedures, continued hate crime training programs for law enforcement officials and continued K-12 anti-bias education,” explained Nina Sundell, ADL Mountain States Associate Regional Director. “Hate crimes are unique; they have an impact far beyond the individual victim of the crime. When a victim is targeted because of his or her race, religion, sexual orientation, or disability, everyone who shares those characteristics feels threatened. These crimes resonate throughout the community and threaten the safety and well being of every member of that group.”

“It is vital to the well being of our communities and the safety of our citizens that Coloradoans renew their commitment to making our state no place for hate.”

For more information on the FBI’s Hate Crime Statistics Report and ADL resources on combating hate, including information on hate crime laws, visit the League’s Web site.