Policing Hate Crimes: Expanding Definitions of the Violence of Hate
When the “Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act” was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2009, it expanded the definition of a hate crime in the United States to include crimes committed because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin of any person or the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person. The act both expanded the definition of a hate crime and provides funding and technical assistance to state, local, and tribal jurisdictions to help them to more effectively investigate and prosecute hate crimes.
This program will feature a discussion of how this law has changed the way hate crimes are investigated and prosecuted in the United States and some of the training organizations like the Matthew Shepard Foundation are helping to provide for Law Enforcement Agencies to better prevent and police hate crimes in their own jurisdictions.
