The Pensacola area saw the number of its reported hate crimes double in 2012 from the prior year, according to a report released Tuesday by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office.
Overall Florida saw a 22.3 percent increase in reported hate crimes from the prior year. Racially-motivated crimes comprised the majority of the 170 hate crimes reported in 2012 by local law enforcement agencies providing data to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is the most in a single year since 2008.
For 2012, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office reported one simple assault that was racially motivated. The prior year, the ECSO reported two hate crimes.
The Pensacola Police Department reported in 2012 four hate crimes. All were aggravated assaults. Three were racially-motivated, one was motivated by the sexual orientation of the victim. In 2011, PPD reported two hate crimes.
The University of West Florida Police reported in 2012 three hate crimes. All were destruction of property or vandalism. Two were racially-motivated, one was motivated by the sexual orientation of the victim. UWF reported no hate crimes in 2011.
The eight hate crimes reported in Escambia County ranked the county seventh in the state for 2012:
1. Orange: 32
2. Alachua: 16
3. Brevard: 15
4. Miami/Dade: 11
5. Broward: 10
6. Clay: 9
7. Escambia: 8
Read 2012HateCrimesReport
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News Service of Florida contributed to this article.