New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has asked local authorities to be vigilant about identifying and reporting hate crimes.
The Democrat made the announcement Thursday surrounded by immigrants' rights advocates. He says he sent district attorneys and police chiefs a bulletin reminding them of state bias crime statutes.
The FBI reported Monday that hate crimes against Muslims rose to their highest number since the 9/11 attacks in 2015.
That year included terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California.
After the California shootings, Republican President-elect Donald Trump called for a moratorium on Muslims entering the U.S. Schneiderman is a Trump foe. His civil fraud lawsuit against Trump University is pending.
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday said his administration has a number of investigations into possible hate crimes.
