P sychodynam ic........ .......................................................... .... .... .... ... 39
 Perpetrators of B ias C rim e .............................. ............................................ 43
 B ias C rim e R reporting ...................... .. .. .................. ................. ............... 44
 Victim Selection .................................................................. ............. ........ .. ........ 45
 Problem s w ith Bias Crim e D ata ........................................ ....... ............... 45
 Bias Crime and People with Disabilities............... ................ .......... 47
 B ias C rim e and G ender ........................................................... ............... 50
 Vulnerability as a Negative Attitude ....................... ........ ............... 52
 Summary and Conclusion......................................... 52

3 M E T H O D O L O G Y .......................................................................... .....................57

 R research Q uestions.......... ..... .............................................................. ........ .. ... 57
 R e se arch D e sig n ................................................................................................... 5 7
 P a rtic ip a n ts ........................................................................................................... 5 7
 Instruments .....................................................58
 The Modified Hate Crime Survey ...................................... .......... 59
 Attitudes toward Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP) ...........................................64
 Contact with Disabled Persons Scale (CDP) ....................................................66
 D em graphic Questionnaire ..................................................... ... ........... 67
 Data Collection Procedure ................................. .......................... ....... 68
 D ata A analysis ............................... .. ... ....... ............... 69
 Analysis Related to Research Questions One, Two, and Three ........................69
 Analysis Related to Research Question Four...................................................69
 L im station s ................................................................ .... .... 70

4 RE SU LTS ................................ ............. ............. ........ 71

 Research Questions................ ........... ................ ..... ........................... 74
 Research question #1: Does law enforcement officer level of agreement with
 hate crime classification vary across protected category? ...............................74
 Research question #2: Does law enforcement officer mean level of agreement
 with hate crime classification vary by gender? ................................ .............77
 Research question #3: Is there an interaction between protected category and
 gender on law enforcement officer mean level of agreement with hate
 crime e enhance ent?............................. ........... ..................7...78
 Research question #4: Does age, attitudes towards persons with disabilities,
 and contact with persons with disabilities provide predictive ability for law
 enforcement officers' agreement with hate crime enhancement for persons
 w ith disabilities? .................................... ................. ......... 78
 A additional A nalyses................ ............... ....... .. ... .. ............ .................... 80
 Variation of Mean Scores Across Protected Category for Race and Gender......80
 Variation of Mean Scores Across Severity of Crime and Type of Crime
 Indicator ................................... ................................ .........80