Violence against racial and religious minority groups increased sharply throughout the country last year, despite a slight decline in state wide figures. Compiling incidents from police departments and private watch dog groups, the County Human Relations Committee reported almost 500 hate crimes in the year, up from only 200 last year. It was the first increase since the committee began to report a yearly figure six years ago. The lower State wide figures are Probably in error due to under reporting in other countries; under reporting is the major problem that state surveyors face each year. All of the following, if true, would support the conclusion or the explanation of the discrepancy in the state and county figures EXCEPT: