Yves here. Even though crime reports overall are a bit down,
1 violent crimes, particularly murders, have spiked in the US in 2020, leaving experts scrambling for explanations. You’d think “It’s the Covid, stupid, plus gunz” would suffice to explain more shootings, but understanding the dynamics is important to having any success in moderating this terrible trend. From Vox early this month:
A new report, by the Council on Criminal Justice, found homicides have increased sharply this year across 21 US cities with relevant data: “Homicide rates increased by 42% during the summer and 34% in the fall over the summer and fall of 2019.” Other data, from crime analyst Jeff Asher, found murder is up 36 percent throughout the year so far, compared to the same period in 2019, in a sample of 51 US cities. A preliminary FBI reportalso found murders up 15 percent nationwide in the first half of 2020.