The Florida Office of the Attorney General released it’s annual report on hate crimes this week. The latest numbers come from 2012 not 2013. The number of reported hate crimes rose from 2011. There were 170 hate crimes reported in the state of Florida in 2012. That’s an increase of about 22% from the previous year but still relatively low compared to the last decade.
A hate crime, according to the report, is any act committed against a person or a person’s property that -- quote -- “in any way constitutes an expression of hatred toward the victim based on his or her personal characteristics.”
The vast majority of the state’s hate crimes were motivated by race, though an abnormally high 29% were motivated by sexual orientation in 2012.South Florida’s numbers were relatively unchanged: Both Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties saw decreases while the number of hate crimes in Broward County increased from 6 to 10.
Orange County had the highest number of hate crimes at 32.