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Priority Indicator
#25: Rate of Bias Crimes Arrests
Contents: Background
Information | Data Tables | Data
Charts | Commentary | Download
Data
New - Bias
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Background
Information
What
Does This Indicator Mean?
This indicator measures the rate of arrests for
bias crimes by geographic region.
Referring to a specific time period and geographic region,
this indicator measures the total number of arrests for bias crimes
in the region divided by the population of the area and multiplied
by 10,000.
Bias crimes are reported by the police department or
sheriff’s office making the arrest, and not by the residence
address of the arrestee, and so these rates will vary greatly as a result
of political decisions within a region.
Further, the jurisdictions of law enforcement agencies
overlap in many cases, skewing the city-level rates for this
measure.
Finally, there has been much debate and confusion over the
definition of a bias crime, thus compounding the difficulty in
reporting.
For
the purposes of this report, bias crimes are defined as in ORS
181.550(C) :
A
bias crime is any crime “Motivated
by prejudice based on the perceived race, color, religion, national
origin, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation or
beliefs, membership or activity in or on behalf of a labor
organization or against a labor organization, physical or mental
handicap, age, economic or social status or citizenship of the
victim.”
Other Risk Factors or Indicators to
Consider
Bias
crime offenders are predominantly white males, while a
disproportionately large share of victims are African-American
though in absolute numbers whites are most often victims. Regions where racial tension or distinct social, racial or
ethnic class divisions exist are most likely to experience high bias
crime arrest rates.
Limitations of the Data
These
data are reported by the individual law enforcement agencies within
a region. There is no
means of verification that a particular agency has reported all
arrests for a given time period, though these data are considered
highly accurate and reliable.
These data most certainly under-report
the number of bias crime arrests due to the reporting procedures and
definitional issues mentioned above.
In addition, if an individual is arrested on more than one
charge (e.g., DUII and vehicular manslaughter) only the most serious
crime (manslaughter) is captured in the data collection system.
This is a national norm that began in the 1930’s and is
considered standard practice as part of the Uniform Crime Reporting
process nationwide.
Data Sources
-
Numbers
of arrests are from the Oregon Law
Enforcement Data System (LEDS) Oregon Uniform Crime Reporting
Program
-
Population data are from Portland State University
Center for Population Research and Census
Presentation and Discussion of the Data
The table below shows the numbers of arrests
for crimes motivated by prejudice. It gives the number of
arrests in each city, as well as the total for Marion and Polk
Counties. For this indicator, it is particularly useful to
know the actual number of arrests rather than just the rate, because
the numbers are so small that rates are somewhat difficult to
interpret.
| |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
| Marion County |
3 |
7 |
2 |
11 |
3 |
12 |
7 |
| Polk County |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Places
in Marion County |
| Aumsville |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Aurora |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Gervais |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Hubbard |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Jefferson |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Keizer |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Mt. Angel |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Salem |
3 |
4 |
1 |
8 |
2 |
10 |
1 |
| Silverton |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Stayton |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| Turner |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Woodburn |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| Places
in Polk County |
| Dallas |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Independence |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Monmouth |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
The table below shows rates of bias crime
arrests per 10,000 people. It gives the total rate for Marion
and Polk Counties and the rates in places within the two counties.
| |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
| Marion
County |
0.12 |
0.27 |
0.08 |
0.41 |
0.11 |
0.42 |
0.24 |
| Polk
County |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.16 |
| Places
in Marion County |
| Aumsville |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
| Aurora |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
| Gervais |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
| Hubbard |
0.00 |
4.79 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
| Jefferson |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
| Keizer |
0.00 |
0.37 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
| Mt. Angel |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
| Salem |
0.25 |
0.32 |
0.08 |
0.63 |
0.15 |
0.73 |
0.07 |
| Silverton |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
| Stayton |
0.00 |
1.67 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
1.54 |
0.00 |
4.31 |
| Turner |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
| Woodburn |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.66 |
1.96 |
0.00 |
1.00 |
0.98 |
| Places
in Polk County |
| Dallas |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
| Independence |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
| Monmouth |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
Source: Oregon Law Enforcement Data System (LEDS),
compiled by Marion-Polk CHIP. http://www.willamette.edu/publicpolicy/chip
The chart below shows the rate of bias crimes
arrests per 10,000 people in Marion and Polk Counties.
Commentary
For all years from 1995 through 2001 the bias crime
arrest rate in Marion County was higher than that found in Polk
County. Much of this is due to the more racially, ethnically and
socially diverse population found in Marion County. Quite simply,
this diversity makes it possible for bias crimes to occur.
Arrests
for bias crimes have followed no discernible pattern over time.
Years with especially low rates (e.g., 1997) are both prefaced
and followed by years with significantly higher rates.
This is largely a result of exceptionally low numbers of
reported crimes, which makes the rates extremely volatile.
Marion County’s highest number of bias crime arrests recently
occurred in 2000 when 12 arrests were reported, while Polk County
had only one arrest for bias crimes in the past seven years.
The
cities in Marion County where bias crimes arrests occur most
frequently are Salem, Stayton, and Woodburn. Most towns in
Marion County reported no arrests for bias crimes in recent years.
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