United States of America

The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) approved the collection of hate crime data based on bias against Arabs. Law enforcement agencies began reporting on the following additional religious bias types: anti-Buddhist, anti-Eastern Orthodox (such as Greek, Ukrainian or Russian orthodox churches), anti-Hindu, anti-Jehovah’s Witness, anti-Mormon, bias against other Christian groups, and anti-Sikh. Furthermore, the Hate Crime Statistics Program began collecting race and ethnicity bias types under the combined category Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry, which includes the added type of bias against Arabs.

The Federal Webinars on Church Security were launched in early 2015: the initiative promotes inter-agency collaboration and addresses both prevention and effective responses to hate crimes. The initiative includes representatives from the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Education. Government representatives also met with civil society representatives. As a response to the vulnerability felt by African American churches and other churches and places of worship in the wake of the Charleston shootings, the webinar addressed a range of issues for ensuring the security of places of worship, including developing emergency operations plans, advance security measures, services offered by the DHS, training materials for staff and other resources.