An Associated Press (AP) investigation has found [AP report] that thousands of police agencies across the country do not submit hate crime reports to the FBI. Although many agencies and departments would only file zeros, federal guidelines call [Indianapolis Star report] for reports to be submitted. Underreporting may mask the extent of bias crimes nationwide and may also show the low-priority some agencies and departments place on hate crimes. Also, victims are limited to relying on the FBI to investigate and bring charges in states that do not have a hate crime statute. Hate crime reports aid [AP report] the Department of Justice (DOJ), journalists and researchers in tracking hate crime patterns nationwide. The AP report showed that 17 percent of all city and county law enforcement agencies nationwide have not submitted hate crime reports for the past six years.

The AP report comes at a time where the relationship between police and race has been questioned on a national scale. Last month Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signed [JURIST report] into law an amended hate crime bill that adds police, EMS workers and firefighters to protected categories. Also last month a Baltimore judge acquitted [JURIST report] police officer Edward Nero on all counts for his role in the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who was injured in police custody and later died. In February the DOJ began its review [JURIST report] of the San Francisco police department. In December an Ohio grand jury decided [JURIST report] not to indict two officers involved in a 2014 shooting resulting in the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.