Hate crimes reported to the FBI by law enforcement agencies rose from more than 8,000 in 2020 to nearly 11,000 the following year, according to updated statistics released last week. Crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Sikhs and bisexual people all more than doubled. Meanwhile, hate crimes against Black, White and LGBTQ people made up nearly half of all incidents.

The number of reported hate crimes has been on the rise since 2014, but it still represents a fraction of bias-related incidents. Most go unreported or are not policed because hate crime laws vary across the country. Despite the limitations, experts say the FBI data still captures some important trends and provides a useful glimpse into how police enforce these laws.

This isn’t the first time the FBI has published 2021 hate crime statistics. The agency initially released a report in December, but because of a recent change in how the federal government collects crime data, nearly 40% of police agencies did not participate.

Facing harsh criticism from experts, and from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, the FBI went back to police departments that didn’t report data and asked them to use the old system to report hate crimes. Nearly 5,000 more agencies, including in New York City and most of California, submitted data for the updated report.

“The updated report still raises a lot of questions about the overall credibility of the FBI’s hate crime statistics,” said Steven Freeman, director of legal affairs at the Anti-Defamation League. Nevertheless, he said it undoubtedly offers “a more complete picture” of what some communities face.

Among the FBI stats, incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders rose the most — from fewer than 300 in 2020 to nearly 800.

Read the full article about Weihua Li and Jamiles Lartey by hate crime data at The Marshall Project.