Fla. Hate Crime Reports Up 21 Percent

Fla. Hate Crime Reports Up 21 Percent

POSTED: 1:22 pm EST December 28, 2005
UPDATED: 4:29 pm EST December 28, 2005

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Reported hate crimes in 2004 were up 21 percent over the year before, an increase that was largely attributed to a growing recognition of what constitutes a hate crime, the attorney general's office said Wednesday.

There were 334 reported hate crimes in 2004, compared to 275 in 2003. The total was one short of the 2001 level, a year when hate crimes motivated by religion and ethnicity spiked after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The number of race motivated crimes in 2004 was 190, or almost 57 percent of the total. The year terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, only 39 percent of hate crimes were race motivated.

Of the 95 law enforcement agencies that reported hate crimes, St. Petersburg Police easily had the most with 49 victims. Of those, 29 were victims of violence after a jury rejected a $1.6 million lawsuit brought by the family of TyRon Lewis, a black motorist who was fatally shot by a white officer eight years earlier.

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