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The United States saw a nearly 30% increase in homicides in 2020 from the previous year, according to FBI figures released on Monday, the largest single-year increase in the number of murders since the agency started tracking crimes.
Over 21,000 homicides were reported last year, 4,901 more than in 2019, the biggest jump since the 1960s. Overall, violent crime – which includes homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assault – increased 5.6% and property crimes fell nearly 8%, according to FBI data.
The agency compiled the figures using information voluntarily provided by nearly 16,000 of the 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide.
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The jump comes as several cities record record peaks in gun violence after decades of falling violent crime. The report showed that most of the violence involved guns. About 77% of reported murders were committed with a firearm. Gun sales skyrocketed during the pandemic, but it was not clear if there was a direct link to the spike in crime.
The FBI report does not detail why the significant increase in killings occurred, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and the massive wave of protests and backlash against law enforcement after George’s death Floyd by police in Minneapolis.
Experts and criminologists have previously cited societal changes caused by the pandemic and mental stress, as many have been forced to stay together indoors for longer periods of time amid financial uncertainty at the onset of lockdowns.
Other factors include victims reluctant to contact or engage with authorities for lack of trust and police are stepping down for fear of public scrutiny, Justin Nix, associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, told Fox News.
A third element is the increase in the number of people carrying guns, which could lead to more killings, he said.
“As these incriminated populations perceive everything that is going on and feel emboldened, it is bad news from a public safety point of view,” Nix said. “I think it’s just all of those things that add up and it’s the performance storm.”
While many cities like New York, Chicago and Washington DC saw the number of murders increase in the past year, the numbers were still far lower than they were in the 1990s. In New York, the city experienced 462 murders in 2020, compared to 319 in 2019.
However, the city recorded 2,262 murders in 1990, with steady declines in subsequent years, according to police figures.
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Politically, elected officials have diverged on the causes of the increase in murders. Many Democrats have pointed to a lack of gun controls and illegal arms sales, while Tories cite gradual reforms in Democratic-led cities, such as funding for police departments and the release of people. arrested on bail, which they say hamper local police and criminal justice systems.
The crime data came as the FBI moved to a new format, the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), in an effort to change the way law enforcement provides crime figures.
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