Heather Mac Donald has the grim details at the Wall Street Journal this week. While anecdotal evidence we’ve been covering here for the past ten months certainly suggested it, the final numbers are in. 2020 saw the largest percentage increase in homicides since accurate records have been kept on these statistics. And the lion’s share of the killings took the form of drive-by shootings. Also of note is the fact that the large majority of the victims were Black. If you ask most of the largely Democratic mayors of the large or medium-size cities where the killings were most prevalent (or most of the mainstream media), they’ll tell you that this surge was driven by the pandemic. But as Mac Donald notes, the data doesn’t back that up. (Subscription required)
The year 2020 likely saw the largest percentage increase in homicides in American history. Murder was up nearly 37% in a sample of 57 large and medium-size cities. Based on preliminary estimates, at least 2,000 more Americans, most of them black, were killed in 2020 than in 2019. Mainstream media and many politicians claim the pandemic caused this bloodbath, but the chronology doesn’t support that assertion. And now the criminal-justice policies supported by President Biden promise to exacerbate the current crime wave, while ignoring its actual causes.
The local murder increases in 2020 were startling: 95% in Milwaukee, 78% in Louisville, Ky., 74% in Seattle, 72% in Minneapolis, 62% in New Orleans, and 58% in Atlanta, according to data compiled by crime analyst Jeff Asher. Dozens of children, overwhelmingly black, were killed in drive-by shootings. They were slain in their beds, living rooms and strollers. They were struck down at barbecues, in their yards, in malls, in their parents’ cars, and at birthday parties. Fifty-five children were killed in Chicago in 2020, 17 in St. Louis, and 11 in Philadelphia. In South Los Angeles alone, 40 children were shot, some non-lethally, through September.
The reason the pandemic excuse doesn’t pan out is obvious. In the first months of the lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions, murders (along with almost all other types of crime) were actually down. When did the spike really begin? Look at Chicago for one key indicator. On May 31st, the Windy City recorded 18 murders, the most in a single day since the 1960s. Some of you will likely recall what else was going on at that time. George Floyd died on May 25th and that’s when the protests and riots began. The three cities with the largest spikes in homicide are Milwaukee, Louisville, and Seattle. Do I really need to fill in the blanks for you on this?
The parallel cause of the surge in violence is obviously the fact that those protests and riots fueled the national calls to defund or abolish the police. Fewer law enforcement officers on the beat during all of this mayhem created a rich environment for opportunistic gang members to ply their trade under the cover of massive protests, looting, and unrest. Dispirited police officers are far less likely to aggressively go after criminals when they know that they might wind up unemployed or behind bars if an arrest goes “off script.”
“Every day you have to decide whether to get out of your patrol car and do something or do nothing,” a veteran Chicago detective reports. If you opt for real police work, you may end up in jail or without a job if an interaction goes off script.
“Proactive police work is dead,” says Lt. Bob Kroll of the Minneapolis Police Department. The data bear him out. In Minneapolis, police stops fell more than 50% over the summer. The number of police-civilian contacts plummeted in Philadelphia, Oakland, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere. Across the country, specialized police units that got guns off the street were disbanded, since they were said to have a disparate impact on African-Americans.
The pandemic has led to a spike in deaths of its own, but aside from those dying of the disease, they were mostly suicides. People locked down for months on end, missing connections with their friends and families, fall into depression and emotional disorders. But they’re not roaming the streets with illegal weapons and gunning people down. What we’re seeing is a surge in gang violence. And at least thus far, the incoming Biden administration hasn’t uttered a peep in terms of what Uncle Joe plans to do about it. If he keeps focusing on “police reform” rather than the real source of the problem, you can expect 2021 to be another banner year for crime in general and murder in particular.
ALL SUICIDESas they KNEW VOTE was FIXED AND HIDEN WOULD END up with MORE ILLEGAL VOTES.
You need to translate whatever it is you just said.
If you would permit me, Madam, he said (I think), “(These were) ALL SUICIDES, as they KNEW (the) VOTE was FIXED AND (B)HIDEN WOULD END up with MORE ILLEGAL VOTES. There, not so bad, it seems, although I do lament the passing of Proper English as our language. For the past several years, English, even “American English” has been modified to make Social Media easier! Remember “Ebonics”? It wasn’t widely accepted, and, actually, never got off the ground. But, “Texting”, and “IM”, and all the other avenues of self expression have virtually destroyed the English Language, much to the delight of some, and the detriment of others. I hated English in High School, and got around it in college by taking knowledge exams which, fortunately for me, I guessed correctly on far questions more than I did not! To paraphrase good old Shakespeare, “Alas, poor (English), I knew it well! Did you know that modern “Philosophers” and University “Experts” now say that Shakespeare never lived, and his writing was a compilation of ghost writers? I find that, as well as other amateurish attempts to change not just History, but also the common, accepted meanings of every day words. Almost childish, in their attempts to twist everything to fit a certain perspective…
Let’s not forget that this started when barak oboma phrased the battle cry, “stay the course Ferguson” which gave blm the presidential seal of approval to riot, loot, and attack and kill police.
The increase in percentage of murders is as a result of high capacity magazines in semi automatic guns and AR 15’s. You can murder 50 people in a couple minutes. That capability cannot be available to every 21 yr old. It should be available to certified users
Who will undergo a background check.
As for murders of police officers, it seems like there are a lot of murders by police officers, thinking of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brook, etc.
Repeat after me, Ollie… “OWAH TADU MAS IAM!”
Repeat 3 times every minute, while looking at yourself in the mirror!
I’ve read the entire US Constitution from the first word, to the last, including all the amendments, and I never saw anything in there, at all, about “Background Checks”. As for “AR 15s and high capacity magazines, well, the Founding Fathers had no idea about them, but, what they DID have was CANNONS, and explosives, and there was no 3 letter agencies, or even the BATF&E. They used “Cutting Edga” weapons of the day, and understood that there was progress coming, hence the revolutionary War. They expected COMMON SENSE to rule the day, and not the “Liberal Progressive Socialist Democrat” definition of Common Sense, either! What with the rewriting of History and REALITY being redefined to fit specific agendas, which are “Racist”, “Misogynistic”, and totally “Un American”, btw, there’s a change coming, and I honestly doubt that you and your ilk (look it up!) will like it when it gets here…
Ollie, you forgot to mention that they were all breaking the law. The “stories” that the popular BS Media wrote were only half true with most of the real information left out. I do not condone the police just randomly killing people. I also do not make exceptions for criminals that break our laws, threaten people, threaten our police officers, riot, loot, kidnap, rape, assassinate people and or officers. The 2nd Amendment states that I have the right to defend myself from such criminals. If those criminals were as concerned about their own lives, perhaps they would follow the rules of our society. Keep those Rose Colored Glasses clean 😘
You can’t legally purchase an AR-15 without a background check. The checks in my lifetime have been in effect since the seventies.
And criminals obtain them illegally
Stealing and or illegal use of family members firearms.
Ollie, you are either dishonest or a complete Cool Aid drinkin’ twit. The FBI stats show that fists and feet are used to kill more often than AR variants — more than any kind of rifle if I remember correctly.
You should probably close your mouth and get a bib and a towel to catch the drool and stop the spreading.
1 why is a liberal F$$k on this website. If you don’t like guns move to China 2 yep Yep all black people you mention have something in common resisting arrest ! In case you missed it Breonna Boyfriend shot a cop first that’s started the melee. Rayshard Brooks on parole drunk and passed out in Wendy’s drive thru violently resisted arrest assaulted 2 cops stole a taser from them! The murder rate that’s super high %90 are minorities killed by %99 by the same color. Don’t believe me
Look up the actual facts
I kind of doubt that anyone is surprised by this. The liberal democrats advocated the defunding of the police; major cities allowed the BLM and antifa to riot, loot, burn, and kill and would not allow the law enforcement officers to do their jobs. I would say 2021 will be worse.
The Democrat run cities will promote the prosecution of Conservatives while bailing out criminals. I bought 4 bags of groceries to put away, Friday I will buy more. I have about 7 months worth and will add until the whole thing falls apart. The democrats want control. They want racial division, party division, class division. They say unity and promote division. Just look at D.C. back when it was burning this summer. Why is burning, looting, and death justifiable in Democrat controlled cities?? Lockdowns, telling neighbors to rat on neighbors, promoting the destruction of small buisness, making legal hard drugs (Oregon) and turning a blind eye to assults and murders. All the destruction in 2020 hurt us as a nation – all of us. When society starts circling the drain, we are all going down that hole. No matter who you voted for. The poor will be the first cut off and be the first to feel the effects. Free is not really free from D.C. Democrats = more abortions (population control), higher taxes, less freedoms, a weaker military, more cancel culture, more racial division, open borders, more failed social programs, welfare, more homelessness, more people out of work, no constitutional protections, more attacks on veterans, more prosecutions of the church and the right to worship. People want this. Like the girls on the View.
The rise in murder will obviously give them the excuse to write more gun control legislation. Too bad they do not write some laws against murder…..
If the Democrats running all of the cities where most of these murders were really concerned about it they would resign and never hold any political office again
So who do we have to thank for that ??? Oh … Oh … I know …. biden crime family , obama crime family , Clinton crime family , the new VP , dog face mad max , turkey neck Nancy , antifa , blm , fbi , CIA , doj , democrat mayors , democrat governors , the list go’s on and on . Funny how their all in the delusional democrat party . And Not one deplorable republican . Only the delusional liers and terrorists are acting like that . Hell they kill their own kids for the cause … right Mary lightfoot … some must die for the cause and all the snowflakes don’t care cause it wasnt their kid that died . But they still voted for the corruption to rule . That’s who we have to blame for all the deaths and corruption in the country . Yet they still try to blame trump for everything . Looks like hell is getting a new shipment with in the next 20 years or so . God’s going to have his hands full pointing at all the ugly faces going to hell for doing the Devils work .
An important omission in this notice, more blacks were killed by blacks, so it’s not a racial matter.
I meant… most blacks instead more.