Record low incidents for state as a whole
Photo: Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti says BSO planning town halls meeting to educate public on hate crimes. Courtesy, allamberti.com
By DMITRY RASHNITSOV
For the fourth year in a row, Broward County leads the state of Florida in the number of reported hate crimes, but officials say the numbers aren’t as dire as they seem for the second largest county in South Florida.
Attorney General Bill McCollum released the 2009 Florida Hate Crimes Report, which indicates that reported hate crimes in Florida are at their lowest level since 1990. During the 2009 calendar year, 148 hate crimes were reported by law enforcement agencies, well below the annual average of 262 reported hate crime incidents since reporting began in 1990.
“Floridians must continue working to ensure that everyone is free of intolerance and hate,” said McCollum. “Even one hate crime is one too many.”
Broward County had 22 reported hate crimes, while Miami-Dade County reported 17 hate crimes, Palm Beach County reported nine hate crimes, Orange County also had nine hate crimes, Pinellas County had three hate crimes and Osceola County had one reported hate crime.
The Broward County Sheriff ’s Office believes the numbers continue to be the highest in Broward County because the agency has made a concentrated effort to educate constituents on what a hate crime is and encouraged them to report it.
“Sheriff Al Lamberti and I are glad to see the numbers are down statewide, but at the same time we here in Broward County investigate any reports of hate crimes very seriously until the evidence shows otherwise,” said BSO Commander Richard Wierzbicki of the Hate Crimes/Anti-Bias Task Force. “We have done a successful job of not only spreading the word, but also going into schools and educating kids at a young age to respect all people no matter their race, ethnicity or disability.”
Of the 262 reported hate crimes, 33 were based on sexual orientation, about 13 percent, with Broward and Miami-Dade counties leading the way in that category – each with eight hate crimes based on sexual orientation. Those two counties account for nearly 50 percent of the sexual orientation hate crimes reported in the state.
Wierzbicki said that, although many LGBT community members live in Broward and Miami-Dade, no minority group should have a false sense of security just because they think they are in a safe neighborhood.
“Always be aware of your surroundings, walk in groups and in well-lit areas,” Wierzbicki said.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the LGBT community is still the most targeted group among minorities.
The SPLC has a list of 18 anti-gay hate groups all across the United States including three in Florida: Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville and Liberty Counsel in Orlando.
“There is a tremendous amount of hate out there,” Wierzbicki said.
The Attorney General’s Office of Civil Rights, which compiles the report, also conducts hate crimes training for law enforcement throughout Florida and has developed programs for elementary, middle and high school students to teach them how to recognize hate crimes, how the law protects victims of hate crimes, and how such crimes affect Florida communities.
McCollum continues to support better protection for victims of hate crimes and was recently involved in obtaining the support of State Attorneys General for federal hate crimes legislation approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. The Anti- Defamation League commended the attorney general for his leadership as a principal signature on a letter in support of The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act (HCPA), which became law last year.
In May, Wierzbicki and Lamberti helped make Florida the second state in the nation to add the homeless as a protected group in the state’s hate crimes law.
Wierzbicki also spoke in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in September about the need to add homeless to nationwide hate crimes reports.
BSO plans on holding town halls all around the county beginning in the spring to continue to educate people on what a hate crime is and making sure they know its ok to report it. “It’s a double-edge sword for us,” Wierzbicki said.
