Record One-Year Homicide Increase in 2020 Linked to COVID

Since last year's spike in murders, coinciding with the height of the pandemic, murder rates have significantly declined and overall crime has continued to drop. 

According to figures released by the FBI, the United States experienced its biggest one-year increase on record in murders in 2020, with some cities hitting record highs, reports the New York Times. Although major crimes were down overall, an additional 4,901 murders were committed in 2020 compared with the year before, the largest leap since national records started in 1960.

However, a survey of major city police departments released last week by the Police Executive Research Forum showed that the increase slowed significantly in the first seven months of 2021. The  2020 homicide increase roughly coincided with the 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the toll of some 21,500 people killed last year is still well below the record set during the violence of the early 1990s. several cities, like Albuquerque, Memphis, Milwaukee and Des Moines, are recording their highest murder numbers ever. The report also said that roughly 77 percent of reported murders in 2020 were committed with a firearm, the highest share ever reported, up from 67 percent a decade ago. Nonfatal shootings spiked as well. The report also breaks down the murder victims by race, ethnicity and sex, with 9,913 Black people killed in 2020, 7,029 white people, 497 from other races and 315 of unknown race. There were 14,146 men killed and 3,573 women.