Law enforcement agencies made arrests in 81 of the 1,611 incidents (5 percent) reported in the Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents.

Graffiti on a side street near shopping mall in Pennsylvania.

While this number may appear insignificant relative to the overall number of anti-Jewish acts, it is important to note that many incidents reported to ADL are not criminal acts. Moreover, many of the incidents that are considered crimes are anonymous acts of vandalism which prove difficult for police to solve.

In the past few years, law enforcement agencies have begun to treat hate crimes with the level of seriousness they deserve. More and more states are participating in the FBI Hate Crime Report and some are making concerted efforts to monitor hate crimes in their jurisdictions through computer tracking, data collection, and other measures designed to deal more effectively with perpetrators of hate crimes.

THE ADL YOUTH DIVERSION PROGRAM The Anti-Defamation League's Youth Diversion Program provides an educational experience for teen-agers convicted of hate crimes. Since the pilot began in 1990, the Youth Diversion Program has offered participants an alternative sentence for bias-motivated crimes. Juvenile hate crime offenders are referred to ADL by probation officers, district attorneys and judges, and their participation in the Youth Diversion Program fulfills a term of their probation. The Program empowers juvenile hate crime offenders to become culturally sensitive and productive citizens who not only understand the consequences of their crimes for their victims, but who also have the tools to intervene in future incidents of bigotry and hate. A licensed clinical social worker engages potential participants in a pre-admittance screening. Youth accepted into the Program are responsible for completing 30 hours of diversity and anti-bigotry course work, as well as 10 hours of individually designed service in the community targeted by their hate crime. Weekly readings and written homework assignments supplement the seminar format of the course. The educational curriculum is designed to meet the specific needs of each group of offenders. Sessions typically introduce the participants to civil rights and civil rights law; African-American history; the experiences of Asian and Jewish immigrants in the United States; homophobia; an overview of the Jewish Diaspora; the personal story of a Holocaust survivor, and training to combat racism. Guest speakers relate personal experiences coping with racism and bigotry, and participants are taken on field trips to places of importance in diverse neighborhoods and communities. The community service component of the Youth Diversion Program follows the course work, and is carefully planned to expose the youth to people from the group whose civil rights they violated.

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