State of Politics: Hoylman Calls For Hate Crimes Audit

August 16, 2013 : By Nick Reisman

A report from Sen. Brad Hoylman released today on the state’s anti-hate crimes legislation that calls for the comptroller to audit law enforcement to ensure proper reporting and training is being made available.

Hoylman, an openly gay member of the Senate who replaced the now-retired Sen. Tom Duane this year, started an investigation of the strength of the law after a spate of crimes committed that may have been motivated by the victims being LGBT.

The report calls on Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office to oversee how police agenices are reporting hate crimes and whether they are effectively training officers to identify and respond to crimes inspired by bias.

Hoylman’s report recommends periodic and systematic reviews of the effectiveness of the current law to ensure that reporting and monitoring is being kept up to date.

The state should also mandate police training in identifying and responding to reported hate crimes along with training in cultural competency.

Hoylman concludes the state should also strengthen the existing law by approving the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, or GENDA, a measure that has passed the Democratic-led Assembly multiple times but faltered in the Senate, currently being led by a coalition of Republicans and Democrats.