In Illinois, small agencies struggle to report hate crimes
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Between 2009 and 2014, more than a fifth of law enforcement agencies in Illinois did not report to the FBI on whether any hate crimes had been committed in their communities in spite of the federal agency's push to track such crimes, according to an Associated Press analysis of FBI data.
Starting next year, though, a new state law will carry at least the threat of losing out on some funding if agencies don't file such reports.
Most of the Illinois agencies that either failed to make a report or missed several years have a handful of employees. In cases where there were no hate crimes to report, filling out reports took a back seat to other work in some agencies, getting done when time was available.
"In my case, it's kind of helter-skelter here and you get to it when you get to it," said Drew Nash, a secretary at the Creve Coeur Police Department in the town of 5,400 just southeast of Peoria. The department has eight officers.
At least one agency, the relatively large Winnebago County Sheriff's Office, said it was not aware it failed to make reports until contacted by the AP.
The findings in Illinois are part of a national analysis of FBI Uniform Crime Report data by AP, which discovered about 17 percent of all local law enforcement agencies nationwide have not submitted hate-crime reports over the most recently available six-year period. The reports are voluntary, but FBI Director James Comey has pushed agencies across the country to more aggressively track hate crimes amid worries by advocates that they are being undercounted. Even if they believe they have no hate crimes to report, agencies are supposed to file a report indicating that was the case.
Illinois' success rate far exceeds some states. In Indiana, 52.5 percent of all local law enforcement agencies failed to submit any reports. But only 13 states had worse track records than Illinois.
The person designated to gather hate crime information for the Illinois State Police and submit it to the FBI says while she understands small agencies may struggle to find the time, the reports should be a priority.
Even the lack of such a report is no reason not to file, she said: On the right-hand side of the form, there's a prominent box to be checked if an agency has no crimes to report.
"That's been absolutely a focal point in our training," said Terri Hickman, the Uniform Crime Reporting manager for the Illinois State Police. "I get very frustrated."
That said, she added, she is not aware of cases in which potential hate crimes were not reported, and, if anything, some agencies will report something as a hate crime when they lack enough reason to do so, such as someone driving across the lawn at a church but leaving behind no other indicator of their motive.
Some Illinois agencies admit the reports at times aren't a priority.
In rural Crawford County, in the southeast part of the state, William Rutan took over as sheriff in 2014 and found that the reports were not getting done, even though there were no hate crimes he was aware of. He said he now pushes his staff to make sure reports are filed.
The Winnebago County Sheriff's Office, which serves more than 100,000 people living near the Wisconsin state line, did not file reports during the five-year time frame. That news surprised Chief Deputy Mark Karner.
"We're going to take whatever steps are necessary to fix that," he said. "We had no idea this situation existed."
Beginning in January, agencies that do not comply will face at least the possibility of not getting grant money under the Illinois Law Enforcement Camera Grant Act. That act will provide money to police and sheriff's departments around the state for to help pay for in-car video cameras and cameras officers wear. But the new law says one factor in determining which agencies get money is compliance with Uniform Crime Reporting.
In some states, such as Tennessee, agencies face financial penalties for failure to report hate crimes.