Houstonians believe they’ve been victims of hate crimes at much higher rates than what’s being reported to police – and they’re not reporting it because they don’t trust cops will do anything about it, according to a new study.
Rice University researchers surveyed 5,000 people in Houston and Harris County last summer about their experiences of being victims of a crime.
According to researchers, one in three Harris County residents has experienced victimization due to race, gender, or other protected characteristics, yet the majority never report it to law enforcement.
“We only hear from about 30% of our respondents that they had reported their incident to a police officer or police or the sheriff’s department,” Dan Potter, the Kinder Institute Director of the Houston Population Research Center, told ABC 13.
They found that 69% of those who said they were a victim of a crime cited race or ethnicity (46%), skin color (40%) and gender (37%) as the main drivers.
Most people reported the crimes to someone they know or trust, but 27% kept quiet about it, saying they believed nothing would be done about it and lack trust in police.
Study authors found the Houston Police Department reported an average of about 39 hate crimes per year from 2018 to 2023, while the Harris County Sheriff’s Office had a lower average of 15 per year from 2019 to 2022.
“This is not just about a singular victim. This is about attacking a community,” Potter said. “This is about trying to demean and disempower an entire group of people.”
The study noted that the results reflected people’s perceptions and lifetime experiences of crime victimization – which don’t necessarily meet the legal bar for hate crimes. Yet, as Texas lawmakers have led the country in anti-LGBTQIA+ bills and set the framework for other GOP-led states to cut diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the results may shed light on the impact of such policies.
