Hate crimes dip in San Antonio amid surges in other major U.S. cities

San Antonio saw a significant decline in hate crimes last year, down 33% to 42 total offenses in 2022, according to a new report.

• Meanwhile, hate crimes spiked in most of the nation's 10 largest cities, setting a record at 1,889 cases nationally.

Why it matters: It was the second straight year of increases in major metros' average number of hate crimes — typically defined as violence stemming from victims' race, color, sexuality, religion or national origin, Axios' Russell Contreras writes.

• The unpublished report by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, reflects a 22-year trend of increasing hate crimes nationwide, amid a rise in white nationalism and soaring number of attacks on Asian Americans during the pandemic.

The center collects hate crime stats from police data and state reports.

• In recent years, it's collected more hate crime data than the FBI, which struggles to get law enforcement agencies from across the country to submit data on hate crimes.

Flashback: San Antonio's drop in hate crimes comes after the city hit a 22-year high in 2021 with 63 hate crimes reported, per the report.

Yes, but: San Antonio police in late 2020 moved to a new reporting system through the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), which collects more detailed data for each incident compared to the previous system, a reason for the higher 2021 numbers, spokesperson Washington Moscoso told Axios earlier this year.

Details: The most common type of hate crime offense locally is "intimidation," with 27 reports in 2021, per the most recent FBI data.

• That was followed by simple assault, with 21 reports, and aggravated assault, with 16 reports.
• State law protects against certain hate crimes, but prosecutions are rare, ProPublica previously reported.

Be smart: Witnesses and victims can report hate crimes to the FBI online or by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI.