In the last two years, homicide rates have increased by over 10% in major US cities. The majority of these murders occurred in Democratic areas with policies that are perceived as being soft on crime.
WalletHub released a study on Wednesday which revealed that Memphis, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; Richmond, Virginia; Washington, DC; and Detroit, Michigan have the highest rates of homicides.
The mayors of all five cities are from the left wing.
Scholars have observed a faster increase in murder rates in Democrat-led cities compared to Republican-led cities. They made this observation by comparing the rise in murder rates between 2021 and 2023 in 45 of the most populated cities in the country.
Progressive cities may have worsened the homicide issue by adopting soft-on-crime policing, despite the initial increase being attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic as per scholars’ theories.
Assistant Professor Chidike Okeem from Western New England University highlighted that social movements, such as the recent public unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd, were significant.
“As a response to the social unrest, some officers have embraced ‘de-policing,’ which is the idea of not engaging in proactive policing practices in order to avoid increased scrutiny and censure. Without pronounced police presence, violence proliferates,” Okeem stated.
According to Professor Gregg Etter from the University of Central Missouri, the national homicide rate has increased due to progressive policies such as defending the police and implementing no-cash bail.
According to Etter, politicians often feel compelled to propose a universal solution to address social unrest, but instead prioritize their personal interests and career.
“If you have a problem with police use of force in isolated instances, rather than deal with the problem or the problem officers, defund the police. This results in a less-effective police force, increased response times, lower police morale, and an increasing unwillingness by the police to engage in proactive policing,” Etter stated.
The study was conducted recently, following two tragic events: the murder of neurosurgeon Devon Hoover in his home in Detroit, where he was found covered in plastic, and a shooting at a funeral that resulted in fatalities and was apparently planned.
The researchers gave a disturbing warning that the murder rate is increasing and there are no indications of it decreasing anytime soon.
According to FBI data from February, in the United States, there is a 50% chance that murderers will not be arrested and convicted for their crimes.
The rate at which homicides have been solved has been decreasing consistently since the 1960s, but there was a significant drop during the pandemic.
