WASHINGTON (AP) -- A government study finds that despite growing awareness of hate crimes, the share of those crimes reported to police has fallen as more victims of violent attacks express doubts that police can or will help.
New figures are out from the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics. They show that nearly 2 out of 3 hate crimes went unreported to police from 2007 to 2011. That's down from nearly half of crimes going unreported from 2003 to 2006.
The president of the nation's oldest police research organization says hate groups are becoming increasingly violent. Police Foundation President Jim Bueermann adds that victims may be afraid to report the acts to police because they fear retaliation.
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