(Indianapolis – Tuesday, January 13, 2009) A front page story in the state’s largest newspaper over the weekend, has homosexual activists complaining that there are not enough “hate crimes” being reported by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

Indiana Equality, a homosexual activist organization, has questioned the integrity and knowledge of the Indianapolis Police Department because only one hate crime was reported in Indianapolis last year. (In 2007 there were ten incidents.) As proof,the Indianapolis Star notes that while this number is consistent with many similar sized cities, Columbus, Ohio had 94 incidents and Milwaukee, Wisconsin had 26 incidents. Indiana Equality is a leading advocate for the passage of hate crimes laws in Indiana.

“On the one hand the supporters of this controversial bill complain that we have too few incidents of the crime for which they want legislation and yet on the other hand, it is obvious from their examples that hate crimes laws are a lousy deterrent. Comparable-sized cities in states with the kind of hate crime laws these activists want here have 250 to 900 percent more of those crimes. That’s not a very good reason for our legislature to pass a controversial and unecessary bill,” noted Micah Clark, Executive Director of the American Family Association of Indiana.

“It seems obvious that the numbers of hate crimes in Indianapolis are lower than those promoting hate crime legislation had expected in anticipation of pushing their political agenda. So they are blaming the police department for too few crimes,” said Clark.

There is no evidence that prosecutors and law enforcement officials are not punishing criminals for hate crime incidents in Indiana. Arguments that hate crimes statutes are needed as a deterrent to such crimes are discredited by the Indianapolis Star’s report comparing Indianapolis to cities in states with hate crime laws in place.

AFA of Indiana believes that “bias crimes” or “hate crimes” legislation filed in the Indiana legislature creates second class victims by requiring different sentences based upon the sexual behavior of certain victims. AFA supports equal justice under the law for all victims and believes that prosecutors already have the tools they need to prosecute crime.