“When people think of hate crimes, it’s probably different than simple graffiti,” Janesville Police Chief David Moore said. Understanding hate and how to investigate and prioritize it starts at the top of a law enforcement agency. A News 3 Investigation requested hate-based police reports from dozens of agencies reporting crimes across the state. In follow-up phone calls and interviews, a spectrum of perspectives emerged in how agencies understand and prioritize hate. The Janesville Police Department, which has incorporated bias training into some annual requirements, has had at least seven hate investigations in the past three years. A couple ultimately weren’t classified as hate crimes — once in 2018 because they weren’t able to locate the victim after an intoxicated suspect harassed him with a knife on the street. Other instances were graffiti, including an anti-Trump incident that officers at first thought might be an anti-white crime before the classification was corrected. Another was a father threatening his daughter when she chose to date outside the family’s Muslim culture, or two school-based bullying incidents.