The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/crime-trends/)
As anti-Asian hate crimes skyrocket in America, cities are trying their hand at reform through passing bills and launching task forces. However, some advocates feel policing the problem is a “band-aid” for addressing the root of anti-Asian sentiment.
As America was turned upside down by a pandemic, localized lockdowns, and nationwide protests against police violence and racism, it also experienced one of the largest recorded one-year rises in homicide rates since 1968. Experts are struggling to explain it.
Cities report that carjacking numbers have exploded during the pandemic and show no signs of letting up. Too often children, some as young as 12 or 13, are the ones doing the stealing.
Violent crime and murder rates in major American cities continued to rise through most of last year, resulting in numbers not seen in recent years, according to research released Monday by the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice (CCJ) and Arnold Ventures. Researchers connected the increases to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the unrest following the racial injustice movement protests.
Studies show that Republican-led cities, even those that increased police budgets, have experienced similar spikes in homicide rates to those in cities calling for defunding of their departments.
Authorities said that they have determined the attack was “targeted” and that there may have been more than one shooter. The shooting came just days after officials unveiled a “crime reduction plan” to combat a rise in violence, which they attributed to drugs and poverty.
Just under 8 percent of Americans say property crime is a big problem where they live, but about 74 percent say it’s at least something of a worry, according to a survey.
There were 157 murders last year, up from 99 in 2019 and the most in more than two decades. “It’s ridiculous that now, even during this pandemic, we got more gun violence going on than ever before,” said one activist.
The spike came at a time when gun violence also skyrocketed as the city struggled with the COVID-19 pandemic and experienced unrest following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd.
Shooting incidents nearly doubled although overall serious crime dropped slightly because of a decline in grand larcenies.