As Hate Crimes Awareness Month comes to a close, the reason behind the month rings louder than ever before.

Hate crimes are up more than 234% in the Las Vegas valley, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Nevada Crime Statistics defines a hate crime as a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias.

Deputy Steven Mills of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office was on patrol one night in 2013 when he received a call about a naked Black man walking down a rural road in Phenix City, Alabama. Mills said the man ignored his calls to stop, but when the officer threatened to use his Taser, 24-year-old Khari Illidge turned, walked toward him and said, “tase me, tase me.” In a sworn statement, the deputy said he shocked Illidge twice because he’d been unable to physically restrain the “muscular” man with “superhuman strength.”

Deputy Steven Mills of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office was on patrol one night in 2013 when he received a call about a naked Black man walking down a rural road in Phenix City, Alabama.

When a Las Vegas police officer shoots and kills someone, the death sparks a clear review process: from providing information to the public to evaluating whether policies should be changed and whether an officer should be charged for his or her role in the fatality.

When a Las Vegas police officer shoots and kills someone, the death sparks a clear review process: from providing information to the public to evaluating whether policies should be changed and whether an officer should be charged for his or her role in the fatality.

The award honors a legal educator who has provided support, encouragement, and mentoring to colleagues, students, and aspiring educators, and has achieved excellence in the areas of public service, teaching, and scholarship.

When two friends of Frank Rudy Cooper were stopped by officers for questioning but had nothing in common with the suspects but their race and gender, Cooper, now a UNLV Boyd School of Law professor and expert on race and policing, became interested in why the police tend to stop young Black males more than other subgroups. Cooper, along with Boyd School of Law colleagues Stewart Chang and Addie Rolnick, heads UNLV’s Program on Race, Gender, and Policing, which publishes research and brings together international scholars and works nationwide with law enforcement regarding excessive force, racial bias, sexual assaults by police officers, and policy reforms.