Police in Illinois Should Receive Specialized Training in Responding to Hate Crimes, Advocates Say

Amanda Vinicky | December 9, 2024, 6:41 pm

Jim Bennett, director of the Illinois Department of Human Rights, speaks at a press conference Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Amanda Vinicky / WTTW News)

In Illinois, hate crimes — criminally illegal acts, specifically motivated by bias — are felonies.

But too often, they’re not dealt with as such.

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It may be that a victim doesn’t want to be stigmatized or that they don’t trust law enforcement, said the Midwest Anti-Defamation League’s David Goldenberg. Shobhana Johri Verma, director of the South Asian American Policy and Research Institute, suggested it could be due to a language barrier or a victim fearing retaliation.

A lack of understanding by police of what constitutes a hate crime could also be a factor, they said.

Specialized training “is critical for addressing the alarming rise in hate crimes and bias-motivated violence, especially in light of the growing attacks on us,” Verma said.

She and Goldenberg on Monday joined a coalition of leaders from groups representing Illinois Muslim, Black, Latino and LGBTQ+ individuals to call for Illinois to mandate that police receive training in how to recognize, handle and investigate potential hate crimes.

“Too often our communities experience hate and bigotry without receiving the justice they deserve, largely because law enforcement officials might lack the tools or training to thoroughly investigate and accurately report these biased, motivated crimes,” said Upneet Teji with the Sikh Coalition.

The Illinois Senate last spring passed a proposal (Senate Bill 3552) to require the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board to develop or approve a hate crimes training program, which would become part of police officers’ introductory and continuing mandatory education.

Despite winning approval from a House panel, the measure did not advance.

Goldenberg said in the interim, Illinois has lost critical time the police standards board could have used to prepare and promote training.

Advocates say that without training, police may miss or not report information, which makes it more difficult for hate crimes to be prosecuted.

Goldenberg gave an example of case the ADL worked on, in which a patron spat on a bartender. The initial report didn’t detail that the assailant admitted he was triggered by the bartender’s Star of David necklace.

“We know that without proper training for law enforcement, victims of hate crimes are unlikely to receive the justice they deserve and the at-risk communities will neither trust, nor feel fully protected by law enforcement,” said Dan Goldwin with the Jewish United Fund / Jewish Federation of Chicago.

Hate crimes have been on the uptick, with 324 and 325 in Illinois reported to the FBI last year and in 2022, respectively — a surge from the 107 reported in 2013 and the 85 reported in 2012.

Even that’s likely not an accurate picture, coalition leaders said. Community groups said their statistics — which show a larger surge of incidents — give a more accurate accounting, both because community members don’t always contact law enforcement and because many police departments don’t voluntarily report hate crime data to the FBI’s national database.

“As we work so hard to encourage people to report these crimes, it’s common sense that law enforcement officers will need to know how to recognize hate crimes and investigate them as such,” said Jim Bennett, director of the Illinois Department of Human Rights. “Training gives law enforcement the tools they need to respond effectively, compassionately, consistently bringing people closer to justice and increasing the trust both with their community and with law enforcement.”

According to the coalition, 14 other states already require police training on hate crimes.

Elena Kahn, director of the Illinois Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes, said even when something happens that doesn’t qualify as a hate crime, it’s important that police know about it, so they can take actions like increasing patrol of an area.

Kahn also said first responders’ initial conversations with a victim are important, either treating a victim with respect and cultural awareness or by potentially retraumatizing them, causing more harm.

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office is using a federal grant to provide prosecutors and police with hate crime training. That model could be folded into or become an option for mandatory training should it become law.