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Hate crimes are down in the suburbs, but not when it involves religion, FBI says

Editor's note: This story was changed to correct the gender of the perpetrator in the Mount Prospect hate crime.

If you can find good news in a federal report showing hate crime surged 17 percent last year, it's this: Illinois and the suburbs in particular are bucking the trend.

According to an FBI report released Tuesday, 7,175 hate crimes were reported in 2017, up from 6,121 the previous year. Racial and ethnic hate accounted for most of the reports - nearly 60 percent in all - but the largest increase, 23 percent, involved crimes motivated by religious hatred, including more than 900 reports of crimes targeting Jews and Jewish institutions, a 37 percent spike. These, of course, do not include last month's attack that killed 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

Illinois somehow managed to steer the other way. Hate crimes reported in the state dropped from 111 in 2016 to 82 last year, a 26 percent decline. Reports in suburban communities fell from 29 to 19, a drop of nearly 35 percent.

But as with the rest of the country, religiously motivated hate crimes were way up in Illinois - from 13 in 2016 to 27 last year. Six of those were in the suburbs, twice as many as in 2015 and 2016 combined.

Lonnie Nasatir, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League Midwest, said anti-Semitic crime, in particular, is at levels not seen in years.

Reversing the trend will require community, business, law enforcement and media leaders to make sure such hate is not normalized.

"It's not enough to say 'That's just the way it's going to be,'" Nasatir said. "There needs to be outrage."

For law enforcement, he said, the task is not just responding to reports of hate crime, but also sticking around afterward in the affected community.

"There's something very comforting to a Jewish community, a Muslim community, a LGTBQ community that's been a victim to know that law enforcement is going to be there, that they have their backs," he said.

As for the overall decline in state numbers, Nasatir said it's "encouraging," but he also worries some hate crimes are going unreported.

<h3 class="leadin">Where hate crimes occurred

Thirteen suburbs reported hate crimes in 2017, including two each in Aurora, Mount Prospect and Homewood and three in Berwyn. Fox Lake, Fox River Grove, West Chicago and Wheaton each reported one.

Both in Mount Prospect were motivated by religious hatred and, officer Greg Sill told us, were committed by the same perpetrator. That woman, who it turns out suffered mental health problems at the time, in one case damaged a Buddhist place of worship and in another yelled "harsh, hateful words" at two people in a public parking lot.

Sill said the victims in both cases declined to press charges and police helped the woman get treatment.

One of the Aurora cases involved the window of black resident's house being shattered in June 2017 by two unknown white men who shouted a racial epithet. The other occurred in February last year, when someone spray-painted "Trump (racial epithet) get out" on an apartment door.

Lt. Joe Weber told us there were no issues this year when the city hosted its first pride parade. "It was very uneventful," he said.

<h3 class="leadin">Reader mail

We got some feedback on last month's column about the growing use of "ghost" cars by law enforcement across the state. Reader Dave Shuman of Deer Park wrote that any vehicle that's not quickly and positively identifiable as a police car could be seen as a threat to a driver's safety.

"Any psychopath can buy flashing lights, say from a theatrical supply, and it doesn't take much to hook them up - I could do it when I was in eighth grade. There have been enough reported incidents that I will not stop for a car I can't identify," he wrote.

And we drew a few critics in August after a column about rumors that popped up about a dangerous drug called "Devil's Breath" and a suspicious incident at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. Among them was Donald Sapienza of Itasca, who wrote "your article is factually correct, but it is misleading."

"I am glad you decided to write the article, but wished you would have used your platform to calm people down and clarify the myth part, which as you see on social media clearly lives on, and then reinforce the standard public service announcement short list of how to stay safe when out alone, traveling abroad, or out at a club," he wrote.

Questions? Comments? Something you want us to know? Drop us a note at copsandcrime@dailyherald.com.

<h3 class="leadin">Suburban sex trafficking

Despite their bucolic image, the suburbs aren't immune to sex trafficking. Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon knows this well. His office was the first in Illinois to prosecute using the state's sex trafficking statutes and teamed with Aurora police and Homeland Security to charge 14 individuals who were willing to pay for sex with children (Twelve ended up behind bars; the other two cases are pending).

  Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon will discuss sex trafficking in the suburbs and how to fight it during an event Tuesday hosted by Aurora Navy League Council 247. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com

McMahon will discuss those experiences Tuesday when he gives a talk titled "Combating Local Human Sex Trafficking" to Aurora Navy League Council 247. The 7 p.m. event at Grandma's Table Restaurant in Montgomery is open to the public. Tickets are $12 to $20. Call (630) 816-7612 to order.

"Sex trafficking is more prevalent in the United States than most people believe," McMahon said. "It is present all over the Chicago area, including Kane County."

• Got a tip or thoughts on a cops and crime-related issue to share? Send an email to copsandcrime@dailyherald.com.

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