WHEREAS, legislation has been introduced to provide new authority for officials to investigate and prosecute the most serious bias-motivated crimes in which the violence occurs because of the victim’s sexual orientation, gender, or disability; and

WHEREAS, the majority of state hate crime statutes already cover bias motivated crimes which occur because of the victim's racial or ethnic background, but do not cover crimes directed at individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender, or disability; and

WHEREAS, though states continue to play the primary role in the prosecution of bias-motivated violence, the federal government must have jurisdiction to address those limited cases in which local authorities are either unable or unwilling to act; and

WHEREAS, the IACP’s longstanding concerns about federalizing crimes are effectively addressed by the fact that the statute requires that the U.S. Attorney General certify any case in which the Justice Department seeks to become involved as “in the public interest and necessary to secure substantial justice” and by the fact that federal prosecutors have historically been extremely selective in prosecuting such cases-never more than 10 indictments in any year since 1969; and

WHEREAS, the IACP has played a national leadership role in support of initiatives to improve the response of the criminal justice system to bias-motivated criminal activity; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police, duly assembled at its 105th annual conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, fully supports efforts to ensure that investigators and prosecutors have the jurisdiction and resources needed to investigate and prosecute these crimes.