New York attorney general urges crackdown on hate crimes

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - New York's attorney general is promising a crackdown on hate crimes in response to a rash of bias incidents following Donald Trump's election.

With bias crimes up 31.5 percent in the city, according to the NYPD, and surging throughout the state, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is urging police departments to act quickly.

Schneiderman assembled a diverse group of community advocates and religious leaders to address what is going on. He said many of the incidents are targeted against the Muslim and Jewish communities, although unfortunately no group is immune.

Leaders from various ethnic and racial groups, as well as advocates for immigrant rights and gender equality all participated, united by a shared message: they will not capitulate to the hatred and divisions.

The attorney general is also distributing a manual to law enforcement agencies statewide which includes guidelines on how to recognize and prosecute hate crimes.

Early Thursday morning, KKK fliers were found on cars parked in the municipal lot in Patchogue, Long Island. Suffolk County police are not investigating who put them there because as disturbing as it is, it is not a crime.