Posted on January 22, 2021

A Record Increase in Murder in 2020

Chris Roberts, American Renaissance, January 22, 2020

Credit Image: © TNS via ZUMA Wire

In 2020, major media covered COVID-19, the election, and “systemic racism” heavily, but mostly ignored the rise in crime.

The increase was not minor. Homicide numbers for 2020 are now available for most cities, and the data reveal a single-year change unlike any other in US history. Until now, the largest one-year increase in the United States was in 1968, when there were 12.7 percent more homicides than in the previous year. The change from 2019 to 2020 will be greater.

Steve Sailer has calculated that in the largest US cities, the increase was 38.5 percent. Data from rural areas, not yet available, will almost certainly lower the national average, but not to less than 12.7 percent. Eleven major cities set new records for most homicides in a single year: Columbus, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Memphis, Louisville, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Colorado Springs, Cincinnati, Toledo, Wichita, and Jackson.

Usually, spikes in crime elicit law-and-order proposals from politicians and tougher enforcement from police — as in the late 1960s and the early 1990s. The opposite happened last year, especially after George Floyd’s death in May. During the subsequent riots, New York City Attorney General Cyrus Vance announced his office would not prosecute “low-level” offenses by rioters, letting hundreds out of jail. In Dallas, police arrested 647 demonstrators for blocking a highway, but the police chief dropped all charges. When the riots reached St. Louis, police arrested 36 people, but the city government promptly let them go. Much the same happened in Washington, DC and Philadelphia.

NYPD press briefing

July 6, 2020, New York, New York: Assistant Chief Jason Wilcox holds flyer offering award for information leading to arrest of killer of Anthony Robinson. (Credit Image: © Lev Radin/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire)

Since at least 2018, George Soros and his network have spent over $100 million to elect prosecutors who favor catch-and-release policing. The most powerful are St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, Illinois State Attorney Kim Foxx, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, Multnomah County (Portland, Oregon) District Attorney Mike Schmidt, and Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón. Every jurisdiction in which these progressives hold power saw a rise in violent crime.

Many major cities no longer prosecute minor offenses such as loitering and fare evasion. This lets common criminals stay out of jail and creates an atmosphere of lawlessness. Letting most arrested nonviolent criminals back on the streets without paying bail has the same effect. New York City adopted bail reform at the start of 2020, well before the summer’s riots, and crime increased swiftly.

Fuck the Pigs

January 31, 2020, New York City: Hundreds march through the streets of Manhattan and Grand Central Terminal to protest against recent arrests by the NYPD. (Credit Image: © John Lamparski/SOPA Images via ZUMA Wire)

Cutting police budgets was the fashion in 2020: Austin cut $150 million; Seattle cut $3.5 million and added $17 million for community outreach; New York City cut $1 billion; Los Angeles cut $150 million; San Francisco cut $120 million; Oakland cut $14.6 million; Washington, DC, cut $15 million; Baltimore cut $22 million; Portland cut $16 million; and Philadelphia cut $33 million. Many smaller cities made similar cuts.

In the second half of 2020, corporations gave billions of dollars to Black Lives Matter and similar groups, and celebrities and politicians raised money to bail looters and rioters out of prison. With open cultural, political, and financial support — and few consequences for breaking the law — lawbreakers are likely to feel untouchable; 2021 could be even deadlier than 2020.

Below are homicide data for 47 US cities. They come from news stories, police reports, and City-Data. The numbers for 2020 are subject to revision.

 

New York City
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
318    462    45.3% 2011, with 515

 

Los Angeles
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
258   349   35.3% 2008, with 384

 

Chicago
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
492   769   56.3% 2016, with 784

Note: In 2019, about 80.7 percent of homicide victims in the Windy City were black. In 2020, about 79.2 percent were, so black deaths accounted for almost the entire increase of 56.3 percent.

Houston
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
281    400   42.4% 1993, with 447

 

Phoenix
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
123  187 52.0% 2007, with 213

 

Philadelphia
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
356   499    40.2% 1990, with 504

 

San Antonio
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
105   124   18.1% 2017, with 125

 

Dallas
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
210   251   19.5% 1998, with 252

 

San Jose
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
34   44*    29.4% 2016, with 47

*The story linked to reports 43 homicides for 2020, but there was one more on December 31.

 

Austin
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
32   47   46.9% N/A

 

Jacksonville, FL
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
162   176   8.6% 187 in 1988

 

Fort Worth
2019   2020   Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
71   112   57.8%    Media reported 2020’s number as the highest in “25 years.”

 

Columbus
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
104   174   67.3% New record

 

Charlotte, NC
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
107   123    14.9% New record

 

San Francisco
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
41  47   14.6% 2017, with 56

 

Indianapolis
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
172   244   41.9% New record

 

Seattle
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
35    52   48.6% 1994, with 69

 

Denver
2019   2020   Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
63 94    49.2%    The highest since 1985. (Earlier years are unavailable.)

 

Washington, DC
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
166   198   19.3% 2004, with 248

 

Boston
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
37   57    54.1% 2011, with 63

 

Nashville
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
84   109    29.8% 2017, with 110

 

Detroit
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
274   327   19.3% 2013, with 332

 

Portland, OR
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with as many homicides
35   55    57.1% 1994, with 55

 

Las Vegas
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
109   151     38.5% 2017, with 205

 

Memphis
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
191    332   73.8% New record

 

Louisville
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
89   173    94.4% New record

 

Milwaukee
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
97   189    94.8% New record

 

Fresno
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
45   72    60.0% 1994, with 87

 

Sacramento
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
34   41    20.6% 2015, with 43

 

Atlanta
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
99   154   55.6% 1990, with 241

 

Kansas City, KS
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
150   182   21.3% New record

 

Colorado Springs
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
24   36    50.0% New record

 

Omaha
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
23   37   60.9% 2015, with 48

 

Oakland
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
78   109   39.7% 2012, with 127

 

Minneapolis
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
48   82    70.8% The mid-1990s

 

Wichita
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
44 59   27.3% New record

 

Cleveland
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
133   185    39.1% 1982, with 195

 

St. Paul
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with as many homicides
30   34   13.3% 1992, with 34

 

Cincinnati
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
73   92    26.0% New record

 

St. Louis
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
194   262    35.1% 1993 with 267

 

Toledo, OH
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
38   61   60.5% New record

 

Birmingham
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
106   122    15.1% 1994, with 135

 

Jackson, MS
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
82   128    56.1% New record

 

Savannah
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
23   32    39.1% N/A

 

Bridgeport
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
17 24   41.2% 2006, with 28

 

New Haven
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
12   20    66.66% 2011, with 34

 

Flint
2019    2020    Increase    Most recent year with more homicides
43   60    39.5% 2012, with 63

 

In these cities, homicide increased by 41.1 percent, from 5,342 in 2019 to 7,537 in 2020.