One of the nation's leading anti-hate crusaders is banking that increased awareness is the best defense to the proliferation of hate and bias crimes.

The New York-based Anti-Defamation League last week launched its Law Enforcement Agency Resource Network as a "one-stop shopping" center for hate crime information. The Web site is designed to help law enforcement officials better recognize and crack down on such crimes.

"In the battle against haters, extremists and those who seek to erode our democratic values and threaten our security, we are committed to providing law enforcement agencies with resources and tools to augment their ongoing efforts," Abraham H. Foxman, the ADL's national director, said last week.

He told a June 18 press conference that "the lessons of history" — from the Holocaust to Oklahoma City show that the "best defense against extremists is offense." The site, he added, provides "a living document" that can reach a large number of people.

The effort appears to have garnered positive reaction from the law enforcement community. Former New York City Police Commission Bill Bratton predicted the new Web page would be a "significant addition" to efforts already underway nationwide. ADL has also developed specialized curricula to train law enforcement to better understand and recognize hate, bias and extremist crimes.

The Web site features a calendar of upcoming extremist events by state, a chronology of hate crime activity, links to federal and state agencies and groups, a map of state hate crime laws, pending legislation and an archive of ADL reports on hate crimes.

Users can get the ADL's latest hate group tally and access a database of hate symbols. From the Odin Rune sported by Neo-Nazis to the skull and crossbones logo representing the Aryan Nations Resistance, the site features symbols divided into six categories — general racist, Neo-Nazi, skin head groups, prison tattoos, numbers and acronyms — and explains their origins, affiliation and other interesting information.

For example, current and former inmates sporting spider web tattoos on or under their arms indicate that they might have considered themselves racists at one time. In some areas, such tattoos are badges of honor for killing minorities, according to the Web site. White supremacists and members of extremist Christian groups may use the acronym RAHOWA when talking about a Racial Holy War.

Also featured on the site is Extremism in America: A Guide, which provides a rundown of the hate world's movers and shakers. The section features bios and photos of some of the world's most notorious hate mongers. It gives users the opportunity to download a photo of a young David Duke clad in Nazi regalia, learn more about Carl Story or Vincent Bertollini, former Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who now lead the Christian Ideology movement in Idaho.

Another feature entitled Feminism Perverted explores womens' groups which specialize in hate and advocate traditional roles. Most of them seem to promote hate ideas but not the use of violence to advance their agenda. Woman for Aryan Unity, for example, urges members to support their racist husbands by concentrating on homemaking and educating their children about their views and to take up arms in support of their cause as a last resort. The group Her Race, calls for a boycott of Sesame Street for its promotion of tolerance, according to the ADL's site.

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