The FBI documented a sharp increase in hate crimes in 2017 compared to 2016 – particularly in New Jersey, where the number of incidents have nearly doubled. The FBI also released a town-by-town list that shows where the crimes occurred.
In New Jersey, 518 law enforcement agencies provided information to the FBI but only 155 agencies actually reported hate crimes in 2017, the most recent year available. Collectively, the agencies reported 495 hate crimes to the FBI, a 75 increase from the number of documented hate crimes in 2016.
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Here were the towns that had hate crimes in 2017, from the most to least:
- Woodbury 33
- East Brunswick 24
- Lakewood 22
- Evesham Township 18
- Princeton 15
- Howell 11
- Edison 10
- Keansburg 10
- Englewood 9
- Hackensack 9
- Vineland 9
- Manalapan Township 8
- Randolph Township 8
- Medford Township 7
- Neptune Township 7
- Aberdeen Township 6
- Cinnaminson Township 6
- Franklin Lakes 6
- Hoboken 6
- Ocean Township, Monmouth County 6
- South Orange Village 6
- Hamilton Township, Mercer County 5
- Hanover Township 5
- Lodi 5
- Moorestown Township 5
- Highland Park 4
- Hillsborough Township 4
- Ridgewood 4
- South Brunswick Township 4
- Toms River Township 4
- East Hanover Township 3
- Freehold Township 3
- Hopewell Township 3
- Livingston Township 3
- Madison 3
- Maple Shade Township 3
- Monroe Township, Middlesex County 3
- New Brunswick 3
- Passaic 3
- Robbinsville Township 3
- Teaneck Township 3
- Bergenfield 2
- Bradley Beach 2
- Brick Township 2
- Colts Neck Township 2
- Deal 2
- Delanco Township 2
- Dover 2
- East Orange 2
- Fort Lee 2
- Haddon Township 2
- Haworth 2
- Hightstown 2
- Lawrence Township, Mercer County 2
- Magnolia 2
- Manasquan 2
- Medford Lakes 2
- Middlesex Borough 2
- Montclair 2
- Mount Olive Township 2
- Newton 2
- Old Bridge Township 2
- Oradell 2
- Palmyra 2
- Paramus 2
- Ramsey 2
- Stone Harbor 2
- Washington Township, Gloucester County 2
- Waterford Township 2
- Weehawken Township 2
- Westampton Township 2
- West Long Branch 2
- West Windsor Township 2
- Willingboro Township 2
- Woodbridge Township 2
- Belmar 1
- Belvidere 1
- Berkeley Heights Township 1
- Berkeley Township 1
- Boonton 1
- Bridgeton 1
- Bridgewater Township 1
- Brigantine 1
- Burlington Township 1
- Carteret 1
- Chatham 1
- Chatham Township 1
- Collingswood 1
- Eastampton Township 1
- East Windsor Township 1
- Eatontown 1
- Egg Harbor Township 1
- Elizabeth 1
- Elmwood Park 1
- Emerson 1
- Fair Lawn 1
- Franklin Township, Somerset County 1
- Freehold Borough 1
- Hackettstown 1
- Haddonfield 1
- Harrison Township 1
- High Bridge 1
- Interlaken 1
- Jefferson Township 1
- Jersey City 1
- Kinnelon 1
- Lindenwold 1
- Lopatcong Township 1
- Lumberton Township 1
- Manchester Township 1
- Mansfield Township, Warren County 1
- Mantua Township 1
- Maplewood Township 1
- Metuchen 1
- Millburn Township 1
- Monmouth Beach 1
- Montvale 1
- Mount Laurel Township 1
- Mullica Township 1
- North Bergen Township 1
- Northfield 1
- Oakland 1
- Old Tappan 1
- Paulsboro 1
- Pennsville Township 1
- Pequannock Township 1
- Piscataway Township 1
- Plainfield 1
- Point Pleasant 1
- Pompton Lakes 1
- River Edge 1
- Roselle Park 1
- Shrewsbury 1
- South Plainfield 1
- South River 1
- Springfield Township, Union County 1
- Summit 1
- Tenafly 1
- Trenton 1
- Union City 1
- Union Township 1
- Verona 1
- Voorhees Township 1
- Washington Township, Warren County 1
- West New York 1
- Wildwood 1
Whether more hate crimes were reported to police in 2017 than in 2016 is difficult to ascertain because there were an additional 1,000 law enforcement agencies that participated in the program compared to the previous year. Such stark increases, though, indicate more and more people and institutions are being targeted because of religion.
According to the Anti Defamation League, the 1,564 religion-based hate crimes reported in 2017 are the second-highest ever. The highest number of such crimes were reported in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, according to the ADL.
Here were towns with hate crimes based on race in New Jersey:
- Woodbury 27
- East Brunswick 11
- Evesham Township 10
- Englewood 8
- Keansburg 8
- Princeton 8
- Vineland 8
- Howell 7
- Lakewood 7
- Edison Township 6
- Neptune Township 6
- Hamilton Township, Mercer County 5
- Hackensack 4
- Manalapan Township 4
- Moorestown Township 4
- Randolph Township 4
- South Orange Village 4
- Hillsborough Township 3
- Hoboken 3
- Medford Township 3
- Ocean Township, Monmouth County 3
- Robbinsville Township 3
- Aberdeen Township 2
- Cinnaminson Township 2
- Colts Neck Township 2
- Delanco Township 2
- East Hanover Township 2
- Freehold Township 2
- Haddon Township 2
- Highland Park 2
- Hightstown 2
- Livingston Township 2
- Lodi 2
- Magnolia 2
- Manasquan 2
- Montclair 2
- Old Bridge Township 2
- Teaneck Township 2
- Waterford Township 2
- Weehawken Township 2
- Westampton Township 2
- Belvidere 1
- Berkeley Heights Township 1
- Bradley Beach 1
- Bridgeton 1
- Burlington Township 1
- Carteret 1
- Chatham Township 1
- Collingswood 1
- Dover 1
- Eastampton Township 1
- East Orange 1
- East Windsor Township 1
- Egg Harbor Township 1
- Elmwood Park 1
- Fort Lee 1
- Franklin Lakes 1
- Franklin Township, Somerset County 1
- Freehold Borough 1
- Hackettstown 1
- Haddonfield 1
- Hanover Township 1
- Hopewell Township 1
- Jefferson Township 1
- Kinnelon 1
- Madison 1
- Manchester Township 1
- Mantua Township 1
- Maple Shade Township 1
- Medford Lakes 1
- Middlesex Borough 1
- Mount Olive Township 1
- Mullica Township 1
- New Brunswick 1
- Northfield 1
- Palmyra 1
- Paramus 1
- Passaic 1
- Paulsboro 1
- Pennsville Township 1
- Pompton Lakes 1
- Ramsey 1
- Roselle Park 1
- South Brunswick Township 1
- South Plainfield 1
- South River 1
- Springfield Township, Union County 1
- Toms River Township 1
- Union City 1
- Union Township 1
- Verona 1
- Voorhees Township 1
- Washington Township, Gloucester County 1
- Washington Township, Warren County 1
- West Long Branch 1
- West New York 1
- West Windsor Township 1
- Wildwood 1
Here were towns with hate crimes based on religion in New Jersey:
- Lakewood 15
- East Brunswick 13
- Evesham Township 7
- Princeton 7
- Franklin Lakes 5
- Hackensack 4
- Hanover Township 4
- Howell 4
- Manalapan Township 4
- Randolph Township 4
- Ridgewood 4
- Aberdeen Township 3
- Cinnaminson Township 3
- Edison Township 3
- Hoboken 3
- Monroe Township, Middlesex County 3
- Ocean Township, Monmouth County 3
- Toms River Township 3
- Bergenfield 2
- Brick Township 2
- Deal 2
- Haworth 2
- Highland Park 2
- Lawrence Township, Mercer County 2
- Madison 2
- Maple Shade Township 2
- Medford Township 2
- Oradell 2
- South Brunswick Township 2
- Willingboro Township 2
- Woodbridge Township 2
- Berkeley Township 1
- Boonton 1
- Bradley Beach 1
- Bridgewater Township 1
- Brigantine 1
- Chatham 1
- East Hanover Township 1
- East Orange 1
- Elizabeth 1
- Emerson 1
- Englewood 1
- High Bridge 1
- Hillsborough Township 1
- Keansburg 1
- Livingston Township 1
- Lopatcong Township 1
- Lumberton Township 1
- Mansfield Township, Warren County 1
- Maplewood Township 1
- Medford Lakes 1
- Middlesex Borough 1
- Millburn Township 1
- Monmouth Beach 1
- Montvale 1
- Moorestown Township 1
- Newton 1
- North Bergen Township 1
- Oakland 1
- Old Tappan 1
- Paramus 1
- Passaic 1
- Pequannock Township 1
- Piscataway Township 1
- Plainfield 1
- Point Pleasant 1
- Ramsey 1
- River Edge 1
- Shrewsbury 1
- South Orange Village 1
- Summit 1
- Teaneck Township 1
- Tenafly 1
- Trenton 1
- West Windsor Township 1
- Woodbury 1
Part of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the agency’s Hate Crime Statistics report is released annually. In 2017, law enforcement agencies reported 7,175 hate crimes to the FBI. While 16,149 agencies participated in 2017, only 2,040 submitted incident reports about hate crimes. The remaining agencies reported 0 hate crimes to the FBI. In 2016, the FBI documented 6,121 hate crimes.
“Two weeks ago, we witnessed the most deadly anti-Semitic hate crime in American history. Today, we have another FBI study showing a big jump in hate crimes against Americans because of their race, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation,” Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director, said in a statement. “This report provides further evidence that more must be done to address the divisive climate of hate in America. That begins with leaders from all walks of life and from all sectors of society forcefully condemning anti-Semitism, bigotry, and hate whenever it occurs.”
According to the FBI, a majority of the victims (59.6 percent) were targeted because of a bias towards race, ethnicity or ancestry. The second most common reason a victim was targeted was because of religion (20.6 percent) followed by sexual-orientation (15.8 percent), disability (1.9 percent), gender identity (1.6 percent) and gender (0.6 percent), according to the statistics.
The FBI says 50.7 percent of known offenders were white, 21.3 percent were African-American and other races accounted for the remaining known offenders. According to the FBI, a “known offender” does not imply that a suspect’s identity is known but that “some aspect of the suspect was identified.”
Experts say the annual hate crime statistics report provides an incomplete picture of the number of hate crimes in the country. The ADL noted that in the 2017 report, 91 cities that had a population of 100,000 or more either did not report any data to the FBI or reported 0 instances of hate crimes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
FBI photo