Violent Crime: Crime Against a Person

The UCR Program defines hate crime as "a criminal offense committed against a person, property, or society which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin." Bias is another word for prejudice.

About 49.7 percent of the total number of hate crimes against individuals were motivated by racial prejudice; 18 percent by bias against a victim's religion; 16.4 percent against a victim's sexual orientation; and 15.3 percent against a victim's ethnicity or national origin.

Of the offenders whose race was determined, 61.8 percent were white, 21.8 percent were black, 1.2 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander, and 0.6 percent were American Indian or Alaskan Native.