Criminal Law Library Blog

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has about 50 officers working on a small but growing gang problem within the city. Deputy Chief William Benjamin told an audience at Arlington High School that, “We have a small problem compared to other cities, but we have a problem.”

The main speaker at the seminar was Dr. O’dell M. Owens, an in-vitro specialist turned county coroner and gang expert. He said a good education is the best defense against gangs and other crime.

In the city, the rise of Hispanic gangs is a troubling trend. Stephen Parnell, Marion County’s chief gang prosecutor, said, “We’re seeing some of those gangs, in response (to Hispanic gangs), increase their numbers.”

An update to the federal hate crime statutes originally passed by Congress in 1968 will be signed by President Obama. This update will include protections to gay, lesbian, transgender, and disabled people.

Despite this, many of the people who worked on this bill do not expect more people to be charged with hate crimes. “Are there going to be a huge number of prosecutions by the federal government, by the Justice Department, under this statue? No,” says David Stacy, a lobbyist on gay issues for the Human Right Campaign.

The majority of hate crime prosecutions have always been handled by state and local officials. People who oppose hate crime laws say the federal government should have left it that way.