FBI Will Bolster New York Police To Probe Surging Hate Crimes

FBI
Photo by IceNineJon is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

With federal agents investigating more than two dozen anti-Semitic hate crime cases across New York City, they have opted to join forces with the New York Police Department (NYPD).

According to The Wall Street Journal, officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have noted that the bureau's agents "discussed anti-Semitic crimes with Jewish groups and held meetings and conference calls with community leaders in May as more than two dozen crimes with anti-Semitic motivations were reported to the NYPD."

The bureau is also hoping to bring forth public-relations strategies designed to encourage victims to report hate crimes to New York law enforcement authorities. Campaigns are also expected to be more diversified as they will feature a variation of "languages including Yiddish, Hebrew, and Mandarin."

The push for change comes as the New York Police Department has seen a dramatic increase in hate crime cases over the last several months. According to the publication, the law enforcement agency has "recorded 226 hate crimes in the city from Jan. 1 through May 23, a 93% increase from 117 reported during the same period last year." The NYPD has also reported a total of 89 arrests since Jan. 1 of this year.

Since many hate crime incidents go unreported, police officials have noted that there is a strong possibility that the actual number of cases could be significantly higher.

Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, expressed concern about the uptick in anti-Semitic cases signals another problem: extremists are rapidly becoming more unapologetically "emboldened."

Greenblatt said, "We're living in a moment where extremists feel emboldened."

Start your day with National Memo Newsletter

Know first.

The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning

Joe Biden
President Joe Biden

Last week,The Economist's presidential polling average set in motion a reevaluation of the general election when President Joe Biden pulled ahead of Donald Trump for the first time since September 2023.

Keep reading...Show less
Alex Jones

Alex Jones

At a press conference on Tuesday, March 26, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told reporters that there was no sign of terrorism or foul play in the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge — which had been struck by a freighter. According to Moore and the Biden White House, there was no indication that it was anything other than a tragic accident.

Keep reading...Show less
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}