the Contact with Disabled Persons (CDP) scale, and a brief demographic survey. The

data were analyzed using a two-way, repeated measures ANOVA and a multiple

regression analysis.

 The results of the study show that an individual's membership in a protected

category and law enforcement officer attitude towards people with disabilities contributes

to a law enforcement officer's agreement with classifying a crime as a hate crime. Future

research studies should seek to expand the scope of the study and replicate results in

addition to exploring the effect of law enforcement officer training on the investigation of

hate crimes committed against people with disabilities.