When crime went down nationally in the 1990s, particularly violent crime, the popular theory was that the good economy had created jobs that were more attractive than crime for many who were sitting on the fence between the two choices.

Then the economists arrived and blew holes in that theory. Some said it was the enforcement on little crimes, or more cops, or fixing broken windows, or more 1970s abortions that were driving down crime in the 1990s.

Now comes data that Kitsap Sun reporter Josh Farley is writing (and blogging) about. Crime was down throughout the county and the state in 2007, except for hate crime.

In Washington the unemployment rate stayed around 4.5 percent during 2007. Yet according to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, overall crime was down 8.4 percent for the year in the state. A more nuanced number is that the number of crimes per 1,000 residents was down about 10.1 percent.

Murders, rapes, robberies, property crimes and car thefts were all down. Aggravated assault was up a bit, 0.2 percent.

Hate crimes went up from 199 throughout the state to 251, a 15.1 percent increase. There is no localized information available on that yet. Nor does WASPC elaborate. As of 6:20 p.m. Monday I haven’t seen anything that provides context.

As bizarre as our Code 911 section is, I don’t find any reports of hate crimes in Kitsap County during 2007. In February we did see a guy who was charged with one in 2005 get charged with another felony after shooting his friend in the chest with a pellet gun.

WASPC identifies hate crimes thusly:

Hate Crime
Like domestic violence offenses, hate crimes are not distinct, separate offenses. They are traditional offenses that are motivated in whole, or in part, by the offender’s bias. The motivations are specific and include biases against race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnic or nation origin, and gender. The offenses collected are limited to: murder, forcible rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson, intimidation, and vandalism. Data collected in the hate crime program is forwarded to the federal level at the FBI.

George Will called hate crimes legislation “moral exhibitionism.”

Are all rapes hate crimes because rapists pick the victims because of their gender? When in 1989, a gang of black and Hispanic youths went “wilding” in Central Park, raping and savagely beating a white jogger, was this considered a hate crime? No, because the youths also assaulted some Hispanics, so their punishment was not enhanced.

Interesting that Will used that case. The five who were convicted all had their sentences vacated after they had all served their time. I suppose it doesn’t make his argument invalid, but surely by now there has to be a better example from which to emphasize the point.