The FBI released its annual Uniform Crime Reporting Program Hate Crimes Report for 2021 today, which showed a slight decrease in reported overall incidents, compared to 2020.

The data derives from criminal reports from South Carolina law enforcement agencies that voluntarily submit reports under the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Last year, 411 of 471 agencies submitted data through NIBRS. Of those agencies, 53 reported incidents that had a bias-based motivation.

The data shows that most incidents fell within the race, ethnicity, and ancestry category with 49 reported incidents. Religion was the second most reported category with 32 incidents. Sexual orientation had 21 incidents reported. The gender identity category accounted for three reports. Two incidents were reported for disability bias, and finally one incident was classified in multiple categories.

In 2020, South Carolina agencies reported 110 incidents. Race and religion were the two most reported incident categories that year, as well.

“The FBI has made a conscious effort to encourage the reporting of hate crime incidents to law enforcement because we take these crimes serious,” said Susan Ferensic, Special Agent in Charge of the Columbia Field Office. “This data helps us strategically plan how we allocate our resources to investigate hate crimes, and it gives a clearer picture as to which groups are being affected most.”

The public may view the 2021 Hate Crimes Report by visiting, https://crime-data-explorer.app.cloud.gov/pages/explorer/crime/crime-trend.

If you believe you are victim or a witness of a hate crime, you are encouraged to report it to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or submitting a tip at tips.fbi.gov. You may remain anonymous.