According to recent FBI statistics, law enforcement agencies nationally reported 5,796 hate crime incidents in 2012, down from 6,222 incidents in 2011.
During 2012, the most common motivation for hate crime single-bias incidents was race (48.3%), followed by sexual orientation (19.6%), religion (19.0%), ethnicity/ national origin (11.5%), and disability (1.6%).
There were 3,968 victims of hate crimes against persons. The most common crimes against such victims were simple assault (39.6%), intimidation (37.5%), and aggravated assault (21.5%).
There were also 2,993 victims of hate crimes against property. The majority of such crimes involved destruction, damage, or vandalism (75.6%). The next most common crimes were larceny-theft (9.4%), burglary (5.8%), and robbery (5.0%).
While the national numbers were down slightly, there was a small increase in reported incidents by Connecticut law enforcement agencies. In 2012, 48 law enforcement agencies in Connecticut reported hate crimes, with 149 total reported incidents. In 2011, 42 agencies reported 142 such incidents.
