“Zero Tolerance for Hate Crimes,”is an action plan created by the St. Louis 2004 project. With the help and support of United States Attorneys, Ed Dowd and Chuck Grace, the Hate Crimes Task Force [website?] was formed.  The task force[insert an apostrophe]s main objective is an innovative, multi-jurisdictional effort, [lose the comma] to address the problem of hate and bias crimes in the St.Louis region.  With the support of all levels of law enforcement, religious leaders, and members of the community, the task force hopes to transform St.Louis into an inclusive and accepting community of equal opportunity for all of its citizens.  This project will make it possible for St. Louis residents of all races, [lose the comma] and ethnicity[ies, not y] to feel safe, and in result [...feel safe, and, as a result, this will brighten...],brighten the future of St. Louis.  With the initiatives of the task force, there will be many positive results in the St. Louis region within the next five years.

Very often [insert a comma] crimes, [lose the comma--restrictive element] that are in fact hate crimes, [lose the comma] are not reported [as such] due to the lack of knowledge of hate crimes by the responding officers. [so, if the victims don't report it as a hate crime, the officers don't see it as such? clarify] The reason for this is because there is a lack of adequate training in regards to actual hate crime issues, that are not being included in present officer training programs[lose this second clause--it's redundant with the first].  In response to this, the members of the 2004 Hate Crimes Task Force, [lose the comma] has [subject/verb agreement--members/have] the initiative of improving the training of several law enforcement academies.  With the new initiative, law enforcement will improve their training by educating their officers with more knowledge on hate crime issues, and how to deal with them more effectively.  [does this lengthen the duration of the training?  does that cost any more money?  who pays for it?] This program is already in affect[effect], and ready to combat hate crime violence.   According to Sergeant Ken Williams, [lose the comma]of the St. Louis County Police Academy, " Recruits[use lower case], as well as current officers, are required to learn more about cultural diversity issues, and crimes associated with hate, and [each] must have 69 hours of education in Human Behavior, [lose the comma] and Cultural Diversity." [by when?]  With the improvement of law enforcement training, the St. Louis area can count on a decrease in crimes, [lose the comma] associated with hate. [how significant are these hate crimes?  why is the fact that they often go unreported important to the thesis?]

In addition to the improvement in law enforcement training, the Hate Crimes Task Force is also developing another program [insert a comma, which is] called, [lose the comma] [the] hate crimes registry.  [capitalize? website?] The purpose of this program is to provide better, [lose the comma] and more accurate reporting of incidents in the region, so that resources can be found quickly in response.  This year, police reporting forms will be amended to include information that specifically pertains to hate crime incidents. [what does the fact that a form is created have to do with how well it is received by officers who have to use that form?   sometimes, forms can go a long way to establishing legitimacy for a project--is that the case here?]  Working together with local, [lose the comma] and surrounding law enforcement, the Resource Support Center [website?] will be the central repository for information involving hate crime incidents, and[insert a comma] in result [insert a comma] [as a result, not in result] will [be able to] distribute this information to policing agencies as well as to community groups. With this program, communities will have complete information of any hate crime offenders,[lose the comma]living in their community, which will then keep these heinous crimes from recurring.[will it really?  or will it just do more to ostracize the person who has been rehabilitated back into society?  what are the results of other programs, like sex offender registration, on the communities in which the released convicts are placed?   bring closure--how is this idea important to St. Louis 2004?]

Another program created by the Hate Crimes Task Force is called Regional Awareness [website?].    This program's intention is to develop a regional media campaign on issues such as diversity, [lose the comma] and prejudice reduction.  [what, specifically, is done?] The whole point of this campaign is to promote St. Louis as a community that embraces the strengths of diversity and to paint the firm impression that St. Louis is indeed, [lose the comma]a "zero tolerance community".  In addition to the support of the community and [of] law enforcement, Civil Rights organizations from around the country are also involved in the promotion of these campaigns [within St. Louis, or in regions respective to their locations?  how much support does St. Louis get from national organzations that sponsor the same thing?  what do Civil Rights organizations in St. Louis do?].  This program should bring a lot of positive publicity to St. Louis, and [insert a comma] in result [as a result--insert a comma]will help our community flourish [isn't it already flourishing even with the crime rate?] into a healthy, crime free place to live.

With the aide of another community related program, [what happened to this sentence...it starts and just doesn't end effectively--where's the verb?] created by the Hate Crimes Task Force, is  the Rapid Response Network [website?  awkward syntax, reword].  This network will put community and religious leaders in a team that consists of local, federal and state law enforcement.   Their job is to respond immediately and publicly to hate crime incidents, [insert a comma] and other acts of bigotry [what exactly is it that they do when they respond?].  A lot of the times victims are reluctant, [delete the comma]or unable to report hate crimes, [delete the comma] due to fear, or [to] other issues.  The purpose of the Rapid Response Network, [delete the comma]is to alleviate the fear, [delete the comma]and back up St. Louis's citizens all the way.   Aggressive efforts by religious and community leaders in this initiative, [omit the comma]will ensure quicker, [delete the comma]and better reporting of hate crimes.  This program will give the victims more confidence, and will show them that they are fully supported by everyone in the community.  With the Rapid Response Network in full effect, members of the community will be able to report hate crimes, [delete the comma] and feel totally secure that the problem will be taken care of quickly,[delete the comma]  and with firm action.



In the past, a lot of hate crimes have been committed in St. Louis without any punishment.    The main reason for this is because of the lack of education and knowledge of this crime by the members of the community. [consolidate these two sentences into one intro sentence in 2/3rds the words] In response to this, the Hate Crimes Task Force is in the process of developing a new program called Education and Outreach [website?].  This program's intention is to develop an educational program in schools, corporate settings, and civic and religious organizations.  This program teaches our youth and others,[delete the comma] the vital skills necessary to work and succeed in our increasingly diverse community.  Equipped with the knowledge of different cultures, the Hate Crimes Task Force hopes to accomplish unity within the community, regardless of culture, race, or sex.   Within a couple of months [months?], the people of St. Louis should expect a change for the better in their community. [bring closure--how is the community's education and knowledge important to the thesis?]

Even with all of these programs in effect, there is only so much an organization can do.  The next step is to improve and add on the current hate crime laws that we have now[consolidate these first two sentences into one intro sentence in 2/3rds the words]. Presently, the law only protects people who are targeted for violence or harassment because of their race, color, or national origin.  Thanks to the Hate Crimes Task Force and the Privacy Rights Education Project,[website?] a new legislation was passed.  This new legislation, which was passed on July 1, 1999, adds sexual orientation, gender, and disability to Missouri's existing Hate Crimes Statute, and will enhance penalties and sentencing guidelines.  Under the guidance of the Senate Bill 328, perpetrators can be sentenced up to ten years in prison for their crimes motivated by hate.  Out of the twenty-two states considering this legislation, Missouri was the only one to pass the bill.  With this new law passed, there will be a greater chance of  prosecuting criminals who commit these appalling crimes. [couldn't they have just as easily been prosecuted under the old laws?  what's the difference in penalty for a hate crime as opposed to a non-hate crime?  aren't all crimes hate crimes?  I can't imagine anyone committing a love crime] Unfortunately, this is only the first step in improving our communities.  With further effort and determination, more laws will be passed to prevent hate crimes from happening around the community [is the passage of new laws all that should be done, or should people's attitudes be changed accordingly?  can attitude be legislated?].  If this type of progress continues, St. Louisans will be able to rest easy, [delete the comma] and not have to worry about senseless crimes like these affecting them, or anyone else.

In conclusion, with all of the effort and time put into combating hate crimes, St. Louis is definitely looking at a brighter future.  Programs like these will help build confidence in the members of St. Louis, and with this confidence, will come positive things. People will be able to walk the streets freely and not have to worry about some ignorant thug harming them, [delete the comma]because of their skin color, sexual preference, or nationality.  [so, they just have to worry about the non-discriminating kind of thug, eh?] St. Louis will be known as a city that is free from hate, a city that welcomes all people regardless of religion, race, or culture.  People throughout the area will be able to express themselves with no limits, and will not have to worry about being dragged to death by a truck, or being stuck to a fence and left to die [you might hyperlink the two articles from Jasper, Texas, and Wyoming from the associated press if you can find them online].  Our community will work hard to better ourselves, [delete the comma]and not be part of another senseless and tragic statistic.  Within the next five years or so, St. Louis will set the standards of what America was intended to be; equal.[strengthen this closure--why specifically is St. Louis 2004's idea of setting the standards for the future important?