Justice Department asks citizens to report hate crimes and incidents to law enforcement

Citizens should report hate crimes and incidents alike to law enforcement, Justice Department officials said. 

Senior officials from DOJ and FBI civil rights units made the comments during a background discussion on Monday with journalists.

The briefing was conducted amid an uptick in reports about hate crime, officials said. The three officials who took part in the briefing noted that there is a distinction between hate crimes and hate incidents, with the latter including things that don't rise to the level of a crime, but nevertheless contain elements of bias. The officials said that the Justice Department aims to understand the scope of hate crime in the United States.

During the briefing, officials spoke in general terms, and did not specifically address recent media reports about crimes and incidents directed against Asian Americans.