ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the FBI database on disability hate crimes because it is the largest single database in the world on such crimes. The most recent FBI data on disability hate crimes, which has incorporated a larger focus on mental disability, has never been statistically analyzed to identify important trends and to enable researchers and policymakers to identify differences between disability hate crimes and other forms of hate crimes. Aggravated assault is another major aspect of hate crimes against the person for physically disabled people. Disability hate crimes involve much higher rates of larceny-theft than do other forms of hate crime. Eric Krochmaluk's case was the first US case where charges were laid and the perpetrators were sentenced to detention becoming a model for further prosecution of disability hate crimes. While the United Kingdom (UK) has developed its hate crime legislation later than the US, disability organizations there have been far more effective at raising the profile of the issue.
