Hate Crime in Massachusetts
2023
Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety & Security
September 2024
 Massachusetts Hate Crimes, 2023
Executive Summary
Notes on Data
This report is written in accordance with Section 34 of Chapter 22C of the Massachusetts General Laws. The 2023 Hate Crime Report for Massachusetts
was compiled using data voluntarily supplied by police departments across the Commonwealth. The Executive Office of Public Safety & Security
(EOPSS) received a total of 557 reports of incidents of hate crime (up from 440 in 2022) from 89 municipal police departments, 14 campus police
agencies and the Massachusetts Environmental Police. In addition, 314 agencies submitted “zero reports” (indicating that they had experienced no bias-
motivated incidents) and there were 41 non-reporting agencies. In 2023, reporting agencies and zero-reporting agencies covered approximately 98%
of the population of Massachusetts. After receipt and state data quality checks, EOPSS submits all Massachusetts hate crime data to the FBI for further
analysis, verification, and inclusion in its annual Hate Crime Statistics publication. EOPSS continues to verify and update hate crime reports after
submission to the FBI, and as a result, the data in this report may not match the FBI’s published data.
Data was collected utilizing the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Year 2020 was the last year that the FBI collected UCR or
Summary Reporting System (SRS) data, fully transitioning to NIBRS for the 2021 data collection. Agencies report Hate Crimes by exporting data from
their records management system (RMS) in accordance with the FBI’s NIBRS program and uploading their files to EOPSS, or by manually entering
pertinent data fields through EOPSS’ Sidearm data portal. EOPSS then extracts the required data for analysis and forwards it to the FBI. It is important
to note that several of the categories displayed in this report are only available in NIBRS, so comparisons to prior years may be misleading or incomplete
as certain data elements were previously not captured via UCR.
Bias Motivation
A “hate crime,” which can be referred to interchangeably as a “bias crime” or “bias-related / motivated crime,” is not reported as a stand-alone offense,
but rather as part of a separate criminal violation, ranging from vandalism to harassment to violent crimes. Of the 578 hate crime offenses reported in
2023, the most frequent offenses were Vandalism / Damage / Destruction of Property (35.3%), which is often graffiti or the defacing of property and
Intimidation (29.6%). Simple Assault and Aggravated Assault incidents both had a significant portion of offenses accounting for 17.6% & 10.2%
respectively. In terms of violent crime, there were 59 bias-motivated Aggravated Assaults reported in 2023, which is up slightly from the 54 reported
in 2022. In 2023, as in 2022, there were 0 bias-motivated homicides, after reporting 2 in 2021. Historically, Vandalism and Intimidation are the top
two offenses reported during bias incidents and in recent years have each accounted for approximately 30% of offenses. (See Table 1.)
In 2023, similar to years past, prejudice against race / ethnicity or national origin was the most widely reported bias motivation representing 45.1% of
the total (down from 53.2% in 2022). Bias against religious groups surpassed bias against sexual orientation with 24.6% (up from 21.1% in 2022).
Sexual orientation was third with 19.7% of the total (the same as reported in 2022). (See Figure 1 & Table 2.)
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Victims and Offenders
As in previous years, males were the most frequent victims (57.5% of known victims). This number has been in the 50-60% range for the past several
years whereas prior numbers reached 70% of victims being reported as male as recently as 2012. The known offenders of hate crimes continue to be
predominantly male with 75.2% of offenders identified as males. Females were victims in 42.5% of incidents where the sex of the victim was identified.
Females as a percentage of offenders where sex was determined accounted for 24.8% (up from 18% in 2022). (For a breakdown of victims and
offenders by gender, please refer to Tables 14 and 16.) When the race of the victim was determined by NIBRS agencies, whites were the most frequent
racial category as victims 58.3% (up from 56% in 2022). White offenders accounted for 73% of known offenders (up from 72.8% in 2022). African
American victims of both genders comprised 32.6% of the total victim population, down from 35.7% the previous year. African American offenders
comprised 24.2% of offenders, down from 24.5% the previous year. (See Table 15.)
Victims were reported to have some type of injury in 13.6% of cases. This is a decrease as compared to last year’s 15.9% and past years, where typical
numbers hover around 7-8% of incidents resulting in some injury. Of the 76 total injuries, 14 resulted in a major injury of some type which is an
increase from 16 in 2022. (See Table 17.)
Location
Bias incidents reported by police agencies in Massachusetts occur in a variety of locations, both public and private. In 2023, 24.6% of incidents
occurred at a residence or home, while an additional 18.3% occurred on a highway or street. Combining all school categories resulted in 13.3%, which
is a decrease from the 13.6% in 2022. (See Table 11.) Other location types with 10 or more incidents were commercial / office building; other /
unknown; church / synagogue / temple mosque; Government / public building; park / playground and restaurant. Religious locations were reported 35
times or in 6.1% of incidents. This is a significant increase from the 15 incidents reported in 2022.
Targets
Individuals and private property were the primary targets for hate crimes in the Commonwealth, with 77.7% of the reports, down from 80.8% in 2022.
Business targets were the second most frequent target in 2023 with 9% of the reports. Government targets were reported in 6.5% of incidents. (See
Table 10.)
Hate Crimes Historical Perspective
Over the past 25 years, the numbers and the categories of bias motivations have remained fairly consistent. Between 2000 and 2002, approximately
500 bias motivations were reported each year. From 2003 through 2018, the number declined to an average of about 360 incidents per year and has
remained extremely consistent over this extended period. Over this time-period, the most frequently reported bias motivations have remained similar:
Anti-Black bias has consistently been most frequent, followed by Anti-Gay, Anti-Semitic and Anti-White. The 557 incidents reported in 2023 were
the highest reported since 2002 and was a 26.5% increase over 2022.
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 Counts of Incidents and Offenses 2014 - 2023
Crime Count 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Average
Incidents 415 411 389 427 351 376 385 406 440 557 415.7
Offenses 429 424 411 438 390 421 395 424 458 578 436.8
Definitions
Hate Crime Any criminal act to which a bias motive is evident as a contributing factor. The MA Hate Crime Reporting Act of 1991
covers bias on account of race, religion, ethnicity, handicap, gender, or sexual orientation. Hate crimes can be reported
only by law enforcement agencies. See M.G.L. c. 22C, § 32 for more details.
Zero Report An official report by a police department stating no hate crimes were reported to the department during the reporting
period.
Non-reporting agencies Local police departments, and other law enforcement agencies, which are not in compliance with the provisions of the
Reporting Act. These agencies failed to indicate how many, if any, bias crimes occurred in their jurisdiction.
Reporting agencies Local police departments, as well as other law enforcement agencies, who have voluntarily reported the incidence of
identified bias crimes in their jurisdiction. Agencies can comply with the Reporting Act by reporting the number of bias
crimes, even if zero.
Reports by Law Enforcement Agencies
In the statistics that follow, it should be noted that a single incident report may include multiple offenses, bias motivations, victims or offenders. As a
result, totals in some categories may exceed the number of reports. Similarly, some reports omit information in certain categories, resulting in totals
lower than the number of incident reports collected.
Hate crimes were reported by a total of 104 different law enforcement agencies. A total of 557 hate crime reports were filed by these agencies, which
included 578 separate offenses and 634 reported biases. Boston reported 192 hate crimes in 2023 up from 159 in 2022. Other agencies that reported
10 or more hate crimes were: Cambridge (55), Newton (20), Somerville (16), Medford (14), Arlington (12), and Brookline (12). (See Figure 7 and
Table 19.)
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 Categories of Bias Reported
Of the 634 bias motivations for particular incidents reported, race / ethnicity / national origin bias constituted the largest category of reported motives,
with 45.1% of the total (down from 53.2% in 2022). Offenses related to religious affiliation were the second most prevalent, with 24.6% (up from
21.1% in 2022). Offenses motivated by sexual orientation were the third most frequent category, with 19.7% of the total (the same as reported in
2022). Gender identity hate crimes did increase from 24 in 2022 to 42 in 2023.
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 Categories of Crimes Reported
Of the 578 total offenses reported, Vandalism / Destruction of Property was the most frequently reported with 204 offenses, representing 35.3% of the
total. Intimidation was the second most frequently reported offense, with 171 incidents representing 29.6% of the total offenses. Assaults also formed
a significant portion of incidents, accounting for 17.6% and 10.2% respectively. Combining Aggravated and Simple Assaults would yield 161 assaults
where offenders physically confronted a victim, which is an increase compared to last year’s total of 154.
* Please note: Categories with only 1 incident are not displayed in Figure 2 but can be
found in Table 1.
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 Victim and Offender Profile
An Individual / Person (including private property) was the target in 77.7% of cases (down from 80.8% in 2022). Business targets were second, with
9% (up from 6.7%). Government targets were the third most frequently targeted group with 6.5% of the incidents (down from 5.8% in 2022). Religious
targets were chosen in 18 incidents or 2.7% of incidents (up from 1.5% the previous year).
In the 432 NIBRS incidents where the victim’s race was reported, whites were victims 58.3% of the time (up from 56% in 2022), while African
Americans were victims in 32.6% of cases (down from 35.7% in 2022). In the incidents where the victim’s gender was reported, the victims were male
in 57.5% of cases. This year, the most common age groups reporting hate crimes were 21-25 (14.2%) and 31-35-year-olds (14%). (See Table 8 & 13.)
The perpetrators of hate crimes were white in 73% of cases (up from 72.8% in 2022) and African American in 24.2% of cases (up from 24.5% in 2022),
in the 356 cases where this information was identified. The perpetrator was male in 75.2% of known cases (down from 82% in 2022), and of the cases
where the offender(s)’s age group was identified, the most frequently reported age group was 11-15 with 15.2%.
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8 Massachusetts Hate Crime, 2023 | EOPSS
9 Massachusetts Hate Crime, 2023 | EOPSS
10 Massachusetts Hate Crime, 2023 | EOPSS
 * Please note: For a full listing of Hate Crimes by Jurisdiction, please see Table 19.
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 Characteristics of the Incidents
The most common location for hate crime incidents to occur in 2023 was a Residence / Home (24.6%, down from 28.3% in 2022); followed by Highway
/ Road / Street / Sidewalk (18.3%, down from 19.2% in 2022); and Commercial / Office building (6.4%, up from 2.8% in 2022). (See Table 11.)
Weapons of some type were reported in 141 incidents, which is up from 132 in 2022. In cases where the type of weapon was identified, hands / fist /
feet were used the most frequently (48.2%, down from 54.5% in 2022). Other weapons were the second most frequently identified, listed in 29.8% of
cases. Some type of firearm was utilized in 2 incidents, down from 4 in 2022 and significantly down from 2021where a firearm was used in 11 incidents.
(See Table 12.)
In 2023, there were 76 incidents where injuries were reported. Minor injuries were reported in 62 incidents. This year, there were some other major
injuries. There were 3 lacerations, 3 internal injuries, 6 other major injuries and 2 incidents where a victim lost teeth. (See Table 17.)
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 Appendix
Table 1: Crimes Commited During Bias Incidents
Hate Crimes Total % of Total
Destruction/Vandalism 204 35.3%
Intimidation 171 29.6%
Simple Assault 102 17.6%
Aggravated Assault 59 10.2%
All Other Larceny 18 3.1%
Robbery 4 0.7%
Theft From Building 4 0.7%
Burglary/Breaking & Entering 3 0.5%
Fondling 3 0.5%
Extortion/Blackmail 2 0.3%
Arson 1 0.2%
False Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence Game 1 0.2%
Purse-Snatiching 1 0.2%
Rape 1 0.2%
Shoplifting 1 0.2%
Theft From Motor Vehicle 1 0.2%
Theft of Motor Vehicle Parts 1 0.2%
Weapon Law Violations 1 0.2%
Grand Total 578 100.0%
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 Table 2: Bias Types Reported to Police
Bias Types 2022 Total 2023 Total % Change % of 2023 Total
Anti-White 22 18 -18.2% 2.8%
Anti-Black or African American 158 149 -5.7% 23.5%
Anti-Asian 30 28 -6.7% 4.4%
Anti-American Indian or Alaska Native 1 0 -100.0% 0.0%
Anti-Other Race 13 23 76.9% 3.6%
Subtotal Anti-Race 224 218 -2.7% 34.4%
Anti-Arab 7 20 185.7% 3.2%
Anti-Hispanic or Latino 21 36 71.4% 5.7%
Anti-Other Race / Ethnicity / Ancestry 5 12 140.0% 1.9%
Subtotal Anti-Ethnicity 33 68 106.1% 10.7%
Anti-Jewish 70 119 70.0% 18.8%
Anti-Catholic 9 10 11.1% 1.6%
Anti-Islamic (Muslim) 13 5 -61.5% 0.8%
Anti-Hindu 3 2 -33.3% 0.3%
Anti-Buddhist 0 3 NA 1.7%
Anti-Atheism/Agnosticism 1 3 200.0% 0.5%
Anti-Eastern Orthodox 1 2 100.0% 0.3%
Anti-Sikh 0 1 NA 0.2%
Anti-Other Religion 5 11 120.0% 1.7%
Subtotal Anti-Religion 102 156 52.9% 24.6%
Anti-Gay 60 79 31.7% 12.5%
Anti-Lesbian 16 24 50.0% 3.8%
Anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (Mixed Group) 1 3 200.0% 0.5%
Anti-Bisexual 3 2 -33.3% 0.3%
Anti-Other Sexual Orientation 15 17 13.3%