Post by Logan on Jun 5, 2016 8:11:27 GMT -6
Hundreds of Iowa law enforcement agencies routinely neglect to report hate crime data, making it impossible to assess the extent of the problem and fostering mistrust in law enforcement, critics say.
In total, 211 of the 402 Iowa agencies that report data to the FBI have failed to submit hate crime information at least once from 2009 to 2014, according to the most recent national data obtained by The Associated Press. That includes 194 police departments and 17 sheriff's departments.
Of those, 164 — or nearly 41 percent — have never filed the data in the six-year review. That places Iowa with the sixth-highest nonresponse rate in the nation.
State Rep. Ako Abdu-Samad, a longtime civil rights activist, contends that reporting lapses, even when the number is zero, mean it’s impossible to know the prevalence of hate crimes. The Des Moines Democrat intends to pursue legislation similar to a bill adopted in Tennessee that requires agencies to report the data.
Read more: www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/investigations/readers-watchdog/2016/06/05/iowa-lax-reporting-hate-crime-data-register-investigation-shows/85305408/
In total, 211 of the 402 Iowa agencies that report data to the FBI have failed to submit hate crime information at least once from 2009 to 2014, according to the most recent national data obtained by The Associated Press. That includes 194 police departments and 17 sheriff's departments.
Of those, 164 — or nearly 41 percent — have never filed the data in the six-year review. That places Iowa with the sixth-highest nonresponse rate in the nation.
State Rep. Ako Abdu-Samad, a longtime civil rights activist, contends that reporting lapses, even when the number is zero, mean it’s impossible to know the prevalence of hate crimes. The Des Moines Democrat intends to pursue legislation similar to a bill adopted in Tennessee that requires agencies to report the data.
Read more: www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/investigations/readers-watchdog/2016/06/05/iowa-lax-reporting-hate-crime-data-register-investigation-shows/85305408/