FBI plans to join NYPD in addressing increased anti-semitic crimes in NYC

With federal agents investigating more than two dozen anti-Semitic hate crime cases across New York City, they have opted to join forces with the New York Police Department (NYPD).

According to The Wall Street Journal, officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have noted that the bureau's agents "discussed anti-Semitic crimes with Jewish groups and held meetings and conference calls with community leaders in May as more than two dozen crimes with anti-Semitic motivations were reported to the NYPD."

The bureau is also hoping to bring forth public-relations strategies designed to encourage victims to report hate crimes to New York law enforcement authorities. Campaigns are also expected to be more diversified as they will feature a variation of "languages including Yiddish, Hebrew, and Mandarin."

The push for change comes as the New York Police Department has seen a dramatic increase in hate crime cases over the last several months. According to the publication, the law enforcement agency has "recorded 226 hate crimes in the city from Jan. 1 through May 23, a 93% increase from 117 reported during the same period last year." The NYPD has also reported a total of 89 arrests since Jan. 1 of this year.

Since many hate crime incidents go unreported, police officials have noted that there is a strong possibility that the actual number of cases could be significantly higher.

Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, expressed concern about the uptick in anti-Semitic cases signals another problem: extremists are rapidly becoming more unapologetically "emboldened."

Greenblatt said, "We're living in a moment where extremists feel emboldened."