Hate Crimes:  Knowing the signs and learning how to stop the cycle of hate

UNLV’s Police Services Department takes hate crimes very seriously.  This is particularly true due to the fact that Police Services is amongst UNLV’s most diverse departments with over 50% of its personnel representing a variety of minority groups.  While our campus has not to date had any reported incidents of hate crimes, this is a subject that requires special attention by the campus community since these types of crimes historically go unreported and can lead to other serious crimes.  In fact, the United States Justice Department has noted that failure to report such incidents is “particularly serious because many perpetrators of hate crimes repeat and escalate their behavior until they are confronted by authorities”.

What is a hate crime? – It is a criminal offense committed against a person or property, which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender or disability.

Hate crimes can include:

• Graffiti
• Verbal intimidation or threats
• Hate mail (including e-mail)
• Property damage
• Harassment
• Trespassing and stalking
• Physical assaults & threats
• Arson
• Attacks with weapons, and
• Murder

While any form of discrimination runs counter to the goals of UNLV, all campus community members must know that there is a difference between “hate crimes” and “bias incidents” and not all hateful acts are illegal.  So what is the difference between a hate crime and a bias incident?  Like hate crimes, bias incidents involve behaviors that are motivated by a bias against a victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender or disability, but bias incidents are not criminal acts.  Hateful speech and behaviors only become a crime when they directly incite perpetrators to commit violence against a person or property, or if it places a potential victim in reasonable fear of physical injury.

Reporting a Hate Crime – What can you do?

• Write down in detail exactly what happened (who, what, when, where & why)
• If anyone else witnessed the crime, record their names and phone numbers.  Ask them to write an account of what they witnessed and sign & date the document.
• Record names and descriptions of the perpetrators.
• Make photocopies of hate mail or other documentation.  Keep the originals.
• Keep a careful log of hate calls and make a tape of them on your answering machine.
• Photograph physical injuries, offensive graffiti and evidence of vandalism.

CALL THE UNLV POLICE. Give the police dispatcher complete information to ensure the incident is documented as bias-related. You do not need to be a citizen to report a crime.

Please Note:  Dial “9-1-1” from a campus land-line in an emergency.  Dial “3-1-1” or 895-3668 from a campus land-line in a non-emergency.  All “9-1-1” & “3-1-1” cell phone calls from campus initially go to Las Vegas Metro before being forwarded back to UNLV Police.

HATE CRIME POLICY (3-20-2008)

Read: Police Services' Hate Crimes Operational Policy