Between the third quarter of 2021 and third quarter of 2022, the homicide rate spiked by an average of nearly 10 percent in 50 of the biggest cities in the United States.
WalletHub released its report on Cities With the Highest Increase in Homicide Rates.
The personal finance website compared 50 of the largest U.S. cities based on per capita homicides in the third quarter of 2022 as well as per capita homicides in the third quarter of 2022 versus the third quarters of 2021 and 2020.
WalletHub’s report revealed that the city with the highest homicide rate is Kansas City, Missouri. Detroit, St. Louis, Missouri, New Orleans and Milwaukee round out the top five. Philadelphia is no. 7, Norfolk, Va. is no. 8 and Nashville, Tenn. is no. 9.
Experts provided comments on why a recent spike in homicide rates in the U.S.
“There are a few explanations as to why we have seen homicide increases across the U.S.,” Dr. Christopher Salvatore, associate professor and chair of the Department of Justice Studies at Montclair State University, said in a press release. “The last few years have been a period of instability/challenge with COVID-19, social unrest, and political change. During these periods faith in social institutions waivers (like the criminal justice system) and overall social control may weaken. In addition, we had people forced to stay home, and a large portion of crimes are committed by those we know — so crimes that increased recently such as domestic violence, assaults, and homicide may be due to interpersonal conflicts, increased use of drugs and alcohol, as well as increased social and economic pressures due to the pandemic.”
According to Dr. Michael Rocque, a professor at Bates College, several well-known strategies are available to reduce the homicide rate.
“We know that police can be very instrumental here, with focused deterrence policies. To the extent that policing has been negatively affected by the pandemic or in terms of reputation due to police violence, steps toward improving and strengthening police will be important for any reduction in homicide…The pandemic has created a lot of trauma and nearly every aspect of society has been experiencing the consequences of that trauma. To just hope it will go away or get better may be unreasonable. We need strong policies in place to put our society back together, from jobs to inflation to community organizations,” Rocque said in the press release.
Salvatore suggested investment in community infrastructure and residents “may go a long way to reducing homicides. Investing in a community’s economic well-being by providing opportunities for education and employment, safe and affordable housing, and social and civic infrastructure are all key areas of need. In addition, policing strategies focused on healing and building relationships with police and communities are critical in building trust and addressing critical areas of challenges that have existed between the police and impoverished communities. Another key area that could reduce homicides is changes in gun laws. Since guns are involved in the bulk of homicides, stricter gun laws, and restricting access, while a politically hot topic of significant debate, is another way to reduce homicides.”
Will 2022 bring new solutions to this problem or will this upward trend continue?
“The U.S. has shown much promise in its ability to arrive at creative solutions to reduce violence,” Rocque said. “I believe there will be attention to the effects of social disruption (of which homicides are one) when the pandemic feels ‘over’ from a public health perspective. The focus has been on reducing the spread of COVID and ensuring the public is safe from infection so that the other effects have been ignored. At some point, we will need to redirect efforts at rebuilding our communities and our social fabric to get back to a place where we feel safe and connected again. When that happens, I think homicides will decrease or find their level.”
Salvatore disagrees.
“With increasing costs of living and inflation, political and social debates around issues like abortion and gun control, ongoing concerns regarding COVID-19, and the rise of new potential threats to health and well-being like Monkeypox, we may be in for increases in homicide for another year. It is possible, that if we see stabilization in the economy, a decrease in COVID-19 rates, and resolutions in the areas of social debates, we may see a corresponding decrease in homicides and other violent crimes,” Salvatore said.
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Rebecca Barnabi
