AUSTIN, Texas — Over the past four years, hate crimes have continued to rise across Texas.
In order to provide more support for victims of these targeted crimes, the Austin City Council has approved adding six new positions to the Austin Police Department's Victim Crisis Intervention Project.
The roles should provide additional support for crisis counseling, justice and personnel advocacy.
The council approved an ordinance to create the new roles at a Feb. 15 meeting.
The approval was made Feb. 15 during an Austin city council meeting.
"I want to particularly highlight that improving our response to survivors of hate bias incidents is a top priority," Councilmember Alison Alter (District 10) said. "One full position will be dedicated to working with individuals and families who've been the targets of a hate crime motivated by hate or incidents suspected to be motivated by hate or bias."
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What is considered a hate crime?
Hate crimes are biased acts of criminal conduct that target individuals based on categories like race and ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation.
The Texas Hate Crimes Act works to punish such crimes, which can include murder, sexual assault and terroristic threat, per the state's Code of Criminal Procedure. As part of the punishment, a judge can require offenders to attend educational courses to learn about acceptance.
Texas hate crime statistics
In 2022, more than half of hate crimes were committed against people because of their race, ethnicity or ancestry, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Approximately 20% of hate crimes were based on sexual orientation, while 12% were based on religion.
Additionally, the majority of hate crimes committed were against individual people. A smaller amount focused on property and society as a whole.
Compared to years past, 2022 saw 350 race, ethnicity and ancestry hate crimes. There were 347 in 2021 and 288 in 2020, according to the DOJ report.
With the newly-approved roles, Austin's city council hopes to provide enough resources to create a safe space in the city.