How can hate crimes be prevented

Protocol for Deployment of Department of Justice Resources. Skip to main content. Search Search. Honor history and mark anniversaries. In Selma, Alabama, a multicultural fair is held on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when voting rights activists attempted to cross a bridge in their march to Montgomery and were beaten back by police.

Break bread together. Some communities have dinner clubs that bring together people of different ethnicities and income levels for a meal. Move from prayer to action. In Covington, Kentucky, churchwomen conducted a letter-writing campaign to support hate crime legislation; they later promoted teacher training in race relations.

Begin a community conversation on race. Discussion groups, book clubs, chat rooms, and library gatherings can bring people together. Effective community conversations allow individuals to tell their stories, their immigration history, their daily encounters with discrimination, their fear about revealing sexual orientation, and so on.

Consider building something the community needs, and use it as an organizing tool — from a senior center to a new playground. Make sure residents from different backgrounds are included in the process.

Create a Facebook page or an online community discussion board celebrating diversity and inclusion. Host a diversity and inclusion day on campus. Reach out to young people who may be susceptible to hate group propaganda and prejudice. Bias is learned in childhood.

By age 12, they can hold stereotypes about ethnic, racial, and religious groups, or LGBT people. Because stereotypes underlie hate, and because almost half of all hate crimes are committed by young men under 20, tolerance education is critical. Schools are an ideal environment to counter bias, because they mix children of different backgrounds, place them on equal footing, and allow one-on-one interaction.

Children also are naturally curious about people who are different. Teachers can download lesson plans to address a range of biases and order free, award-winning documentary films on themes promoting civil and human rights. Its Teaching Tolerance program also sponsors a unique program to help students move out of their comfort zone and cross social boundaries in their schools. Prompts from teachers or other students help guide the conversation.

Mix It Up has helped millions of students across the country examine their own biases and overcome their fears of differences. Go to tolerance.

Tolerance can be taught outside the classroom as well. Consider this case in Arizona: Amid increasingly virulent anti-immigrant sentiment, the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos Human Rights Coalition began holding weekly public vigils in Tucson to remember those who lost their lives trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States.

The group, which works to document human rights abuses along the border, also keeps a list of border deaths, including age and cause of death: age 26, dehydration; age 18, hit by a car; age 43, gunshot wound; age 25, drowned; age 19, heat stroke. Expose your child to multicultural experiences by intentionally expanding your circle of friends and experiences. Encourage your children to become activists. Examine the media your children consume, from internet sites to the commercials during their favorite TV shows.

Stereotypes and examples of intolerance are bound to be present. Discuss these issues openly, as you would the dangers of cigarette smoking. Model inclusive language and behavior. Children learn from the language you use and the attitudes you model. If you demonstrate a deep respect for other cultures, races, and walks of life, they most likely will, too.

Commit to disrupting hate and intolerance at home, at school, in the workplace, and in faith communities. Acceptance, fundamentally, is a personal decision. We all grow up with prejudices. Acknowledging them — and working through them — can be a scary and difficult process. Luckily, we all possess the power to overcome our ignorance and fear, and to influence our children, peers, and communities.

Sooner or later, your personal exploration will bump up against issues that take more than one person to solve. Deep racial disparities and systemic discrimination continue to plague our country. In any city and state there are dozens of problems to address: hunger, affordable housing, domestic violence, school dropout rates, police brutality — the list goes on.

A caring group of people, having coalesced to deal with hate, could remain together to tackle any number of societal problems. Luckily, many towns and cities have neighborhood or citywide organizations that bring together people of different backgrounds to work for change.

If yours does not, there are plenty of resources available to help you start one. Human rights experts recommend starting with the language we use and the assumptions we make about others.

Do I look with disdain at families on welfare, or do I try to understand the socioeconomic forces that prevent many families from climbing out of poverty? Here are other questions you might ask yourself:. Do I have the courage to ask a friend not to tell a sexist or racist or homophobic joke in my presence?

Do I receive information about other cultures from members of those cultures, or from potentially biased, third-party sources? Many good books, films, and workshops can help guide you in self-examination.

Reading the histories of other cultures and of different social justice movements — the civil rights movement, the Chicano movement, the fight for LGBT rights, for example — is a good start. Search splcenter. August 14, In this article 1. Act 2. Join Forces 3. Support the Victims 4. Speak Up 5. Educate Yourself 6. Create An Alternative 7. Pressure Leaders 8. Stay Engaged 9. Teach Acceptance Dig Deeper.

Hate in America has become commonplace. What can we do to stop the hate? Download the PDF A presidential candidate wins election after denigrating Muslims, Latinos, women and people with disabilities. Fight hate in your community. Download the guide. Volunteers clean up a Jewish cemetery in University City, Missouri, after it was vandalized in Do something. In the face of hatred, apathy will be interpreted as acceptance by the perpetrators, the public and — worse — the victims.

What should we do? What can I, as one person, do to help? We encourage you to act, for the following reasons: 1. Hate is an open attack on tolerance and acceptance. Hate escalates. Sign a petition. Attend a vigil. This may be one of the most traumatic experiences of the lives. In this emotional atmosphere, law enforcement officers and investigators must attend carefully to the ways they interact and communicate with victims, their families and members of the community.

By providing a continuing point of contact throughout the investigation and prosecution phase, police can facilitate a victim's cooperation with the justice system, assist with the healing process and promote law enforcement's credibility.

In the following ways, officers and their departments can support hate crime victims and members of the community:. Police officers and their agencies can accomplish much by working in partnership with citizens to implement the American vision of diverse and tolerant communities that offer freedom, safety and dignity for all.

WHEREAS, few things are more important to our communities and to our quality of life than a sense of safety and security; and Following the recent prosecution, and subsequent conviction, of professional football player Michael Vick, dogfighting has gained national attention. WHEREAS, the use of user and provider-controlled forms of strong encryption applied to communications in transmission and to data storage devices, although simultaneously serving to Submitted by: Patrol and Tactical Operations Committee.

What Is a Hate Crime? Hate crimes differ from other crimes in their effect on victims and on community stability: Hate crimes are often especially brutal or injurious. Victim s usually feel traumatized and terrified. Families of victims often feel frustrated and powerless. You are here Home » Hate Crimes. Possible partners include when using a community policing model:. Some useful ways to begin or strengthen a partnership include: Network with others in the community and ask who they recommend including in the partnership.

Research and understand how involved your local law enforcement agency is with community policing and identify a liaison officer or deputy at local law enforcement agencies who might serve as a community policing point of contact.

Reach out to the chief of police or sheriff, as well as any other key personnel you would like to participate in the partnership. Focus on solutions rather than problems when meeting with your local chief of police or sheriff. Prioritize Hate Crimes When a law enforcement agency publicly makes combating hate crimes a priority, it sends the message that discrimination and harassment will not be tolerated.

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