The Cincinnati Police Division will be part of a Northeastern University study on how law-enforcement agencies report hate crimes.

        Two researchers from the Center for Criminal Justice Policy Research at Northeastern, in Boston, will be in Cincinnati Thursday and Friday to talk with groups of officers, supervisors and detectives about how they handle crimes in which hate or bias is a motive.

        The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, aims to find departments with good reporting methods.

        The Cincinnati department reported about 30 hate crimes during the second quarter of this year, said Lt. Tim Sabransky, a supervisor in the division's planning unit.

        That's a bigger number than usual, he said, because of an upswing in race-related incidents during April's protests and riots.

        “It's important for police departments to get involved in studies like this,” Lt. Sabransky said. “The end product should help us.”

        Cincinnati police reports include a hate/race box for officers to check in cases where those factors apply.

        The Northeastern study is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics. It's a follow-up to a study released a year ago that found widely varying reporting procedures, said Jennifer Balboni, senior research associate.

        Eighty-three percent of nearly 12,000 departments reporting statistics to the FBI in 1998 said they had zero hate crimes — numbers researchers find difficult to believe. Fifteen states reported 10 or fewer incidents that year.

        Departments were chosen, she said, for a variety of reasons, including location and demographics. The study should be finished by March.

Officials taking no chances
Attack, economy may pinch charities
Money sought to fight terror
Shirey forms task force on anti-terrorism security
Loan program seeks a jump start
Cole leads challenger survey
Colleges find room to grow
CPS mulls $185M from state to rebuild
Forensic dentist used skills to help
Free checkups for depression
Military chaplains ready to be called
Pathologist asks for acquittal
Police aid study of hate
School trips jettisoned
Tristate A.M. Report
HOWARD: Some Good News
SAMPLES: Homecoming
9-year-old admits sex act
Annexing site for Fenwick refused
Board approves small-school concepts
Reopen Byrd case, federal court says
Dispatch chief knows security
Immigrants learn to fit into Tristate
Ludlow to rebid autos that went to lower bidders
'Mr. Gil' assists Hispanics
Veterans protest removal of doctors