SPECIAL REPORT: With homicides up sharply, families look for answers, law enforcement looks for solutions | Crime & Courts

Murder rates rose in the United States in 2020. According to the FBI, 2020 saw the United States see the largest increase in homicides in a year, with some cities reaching record highs. The New York Times reports that while the number of serious crimes has declined overall, an additional 4,901 murders were committed in 2020 compared to the previous year. This is the biggest one-year jump since national records began to be held in 1960.. The sharp rise in homicides coincided roughly with the 18 months of the Covid-19 pandemic. The high homicide rate will last until 2021, although the pace slowed over the course of the year. Overall, the number of around 21,500 people killed last year is still well below the record set during the violence of the early 1990s. According to the report, several cities including Albuquerque, Memphis, Milwaukee and Des Moines have the highest murder rates ever recorded. Chief Harold Medina of the Albuquerque Police Department called the situation “a perfect storm”. He cited Covid-19, the aftermath of social justice protests and bail reform efforts that have released more detainees back onto the streets. According to ‘NYT’, it’s hard to predict how long the murders will continue to rise in 2021. The current wave of violence may continue; for the highest-risk men living in poor color communities, they were typically already under pressure, they were already under pressure, they were already marginalized and isolated, and the pandemic made this much worse, Thomas Abt, Senior Fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, on The New York Times.