Hate Crime Prosecution Unit

The 9th Circuit State Attorney's Office seeks funding to increase public awareness and reporting of hate crimes through partnership with the Stono Institute for Freedom, Justice and Security, to facilitate hate crime investigations with local law enforcement agencies, and secure justice for hate crime victims through criminal prosecution. The purpose of this proposal is to prevent hate crimes, hold perpetrators of hate crimes accountable, support victims, enhance community safety for targeted persons and groups, and promote understanding and tolerance amongst people and communities while highlighting the important role that law enforcement must play in deterring hate crimes.

Hate crimes in Florida go largely unreported for several reasons, including: 1) lack of data collection and reporting by law enforcement agencies, 2) difficulty in proving bias-motivation in the committal of the crime, and 3) miseducation of, and lack of community outreach to, hate crime victims. Of the very few hate crimes reported by law enforcement agencies between 2020 and 2022 in Florida, 69.3% were crimes against persons. 52.9% of those were crimes based on race/ethnicity, 23.6% were crimes based on religion and 23.0% were crimes based on sexual orientation. In 2022, only 58 of 254 participating law enforcement agencies in Florida reported hate crimes. Therefore, partnerships are crucial in ensuring the effective identification and handling of hate crimes.

The project will involve a comprehensive approach to handling hate crimes, including the following goals: 1) establishing an online complaint system for hate crimes to be reported, vetted and referred to the proper law enforcement agency for investigation and potential prosecution; 2) mediation of appropriate non-violent hate crime incidents between victims and offenders for de-escalation and future violent hate-crime prevention; 3) law enforcement training on hate crime laws and reporting requirements, 4) prosecutor training on identification of hate crimes and challenges associated with prosecuting hate crimes, 5) community outreach events to inform the public of their rights with respect to hate crime laws and avenues for reporting hate crimes; and 6) trauma-informed mental health services for victims of hate crimes.