Some hate crime experts say the new reporting method is less transparent and less accurate.
A month after the NYPD reported a 152% spike in reported bias crimes in the city, the department has changed its reporting method to one that some hate crime experts say is less transparent and less accurate.
across the city, up from 23 in January 2025 — a jump the department said was driven largely by a spike in reports of anti-Jewish hate crimes. But by the time police reported the figures forPreviously, the department reported hate crimes that were being reviewed. Now it only reports hate crimes that have been investigated and confirmed. Under the new method, the NYPD reported 38 hate crimes for the month. It did not provide a comparison to the same period last year. The NYPD says only reporting confirmed hate crimes will more accurately show what’s happening in the city. But two scholars who study hate-crime reporting cautioned that it’s likely not that simple. They said the new method could make it look like hate crimes are dropping when they’re not. “It would be erroneous to consider that’s a drop in hate crimes," said Frank Pezzella, a professor at John Jay College and author of the book"The Measurement of Hate Crimes in America." Three hate crime experts who spoke to Gothamist said the NYPD should publicly report both the number of reported hate crimes and those confirmed by the NYPD. The department did not respond to the experts’ suggestion. The shift in how the NYPD reports hate crimes comes at a divisive political moment, driven in part by ongoing and escalating conflicts in the Middle East. Antisemitism has been on the rise across the country and remains persistently high in New York City, according to, citing a sharp rise in threats against him. The mayor has frequently been a target of anti-Muslim rhetoric, including during this weekend'sThe mayor’s office was not involved in the decision to change how hate crimes are reported by the NYPD, City Hall spokesperson Sam Raskin said.Brendan Lantz, the director of Hate Crime Research and Policy Institute at Florida State University, said there are several problems with tracking only hate crimes that have been confirmed by police. He said there are a number of reasons not all reported hate crimes are confirmed. If a victim stops cooperating with police, for example, a legitimate hate crime could go unconfirmed, he said. Many victims of hate crimes are from communities that traditionally have strained relationships with police and may be reluctant to cooperate, Pezzella said. In some cases, police may not find sufficient evidence to confirm that a hate crime occurred when one actually did, Lantz said. He added that police departments may face pressure to pay more attention to the complaints of some populations than others. “There’s all kinds of things that can stand in between finding enough evidence to call a hate crime founded … that is not necessarily a direct result of if it’s a hate crime or not,” he said.Prior to the shift in the reporting policy, Lantz said he viewed the NYPD as an agency that did a pretty good job at reporting hate crime statistics. “I always emphasize that the agencies that do it well, they look like they have a lot of hate crime,” he said.A third expert, Columbia University Professor Donald Green, said hate crime reporting is complicated. On one hand, watchdog groups tend to argue that hate crimes are undercounted because victims are reluctant to come forward. On the other hand, police departments find many of the allegations reported to them do not actually meet the legal definition of hate crimes, Green said. He added that community initiatives could encourage victims to come forward and report hate crimes, which could produce a spike. Green said that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a spike in hate crimes — just a spike in those being reported. Lantz added that reporting both sets of data could provide important context to address hate crimes in the city.“But I always emphasize that if we want to address something as a social problem, we need to measure it well,” he added. “And that means not just measuring the ones that make it to that end stage … but actually tracking all of those that come to attention with police.”Ben Feuerherd covers public safety and policing for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered federal courts for The New York Post and The Messenger. His work has also appeared in POLITICO, the Daily Beast and NBC New York. Got a tip? EmailHundreds gathered in downtown Glens Falls to listen as U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pat Ryan took questions about health care and DOGE cuts.The program froze last summer amid shortfalls. Gov. Sherrill's looking to give it a boost in the coming fiscal year.The program froze last summer amid shortfalls. Gov. Sherrill's looking to give it a boost in the coming fiscal year.Gothamist is a website about New York City news, arts, events and food, brought to you by New York Public Radio.
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