Does Suffolk County have fewer hate crimes than Nassau County and New York City?
Some have noted a recent decline in hate crimes in Suffolk and automatically, and without substantiation, assumed there was some kind of “cover up” by the department to manipulate these numbers. In fact, our lower statistics are mirrored by other jurisdictions in the region. Nearby Westchester County, for example, also reported just a single hate crime and New York City, which is five times larger in population than Suffolk, reported only one hate crime against Hispanics in 2008. In reporting this information, the New York Post in its November 23, 2008 edition stated that overall hate crimes had “plummeted” in the city versus the prior year. In addition, according to the New York Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), which maintains crime statistics for law enforcement agencies throughout the state, the Nassau Police Department and Suffolk Police Department reported an identical number of hate crimes—13—against Hispanics from 2005-2007. No one is suggesting that these other m
