Michigan communities fed up with persistent retaliatory gun violence are turning to new solutions to stop homicides.
The cities of Lansing and Detroit will pay community-based violence intervention groups to reduce gun violence in targeted areas.
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One percent of U.S. counties account for about 42% of U.S. murders, while 52% of counties have no murders, according to a recent study.
The 1% is 32 counties, which have 21% of the U.S. population, according to a study of 2020 homicides published Monday by the Crime Prevention Research Center.
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Recently released statistics by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed a massive increase in youth homicides in 2020, of which African-American youth made up the largest margin.
Youth homicides were up 47% across the nation, the CDC reported Monday. The homicide rate among African-American youth was nearly 15 times higher than that of white Americans and five times the rate of Hispanics. Between 2019 and 2020, the homicide rate for African-Americans between the ages of 15-19 increased by 37.38%, according to CDC data.
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A researcher in Minnesota discovered shocking increases in death rates in the state, with year-over-year averages proving to be “astoundingly” high for younger age groups.
Researcher Marana Muse joined Liz Collin on her podcast once again to discuss her findings on death data, vaccines and COVID-19 testing in Minnesota.
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In 1995, Minneapolis saw a record-setting 97 homicides. Operating by the strict definition of a homicide as an event where one person intentionally kills another, there were 97 homicides in the city last year.
The final homicide of 2021 occurred just hours before the new year as a 15-year-old boy was gunned down in north Minneapolis. No arrests have been made. The shooters are believed to have fired from a vehicle.
Some homicides, like the killing of Winston Smith in June, were justified and non-criminal. Technicalities aside, most share a concern about the high number of murders in 2021.
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Cleveland’s last homicide in a record-setting 2021 occurred when an off-duty police officer was shot and killed during a carjacking on New Year’s Eve.
“Preliminary investigation indicates that a suspect approached the victim in the parking lot of the apartment building with a gun, a struggle ensued and the victim was shot twice by the suspect,” Cleveland police said in a statement. “The suspect then fled in the victim’s vehicle. The victim was conveyed to Fairview Hospital by Cleveland EMS where he was pronounced deceased.”
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Across Ohio, homicide rates are soaring this year, especially in the state’s large cities.
Cleveland set a 10 year record for homicides in August, totaling 101 killings by Aug. 7. From Jan. 1 to the beginning of August last year, the city had 84 homicides.
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Memphis had a violent Halloween weekend, including three homicides, according to the Memphis Police Department (MPD).
Around 10 a.m. Sunday, MPD officers responded to a shooting at the 400 block of Laclede Avenue, where they found two male shooting victims dead inside of a vehicle. MPD officers tweeted that they have not identified any suspects in the killings.
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A “Citywide Intergenerational Peace March” was held in Milwaukee on Saturday by community members in response to the rising levels of violence. WISN 12 reported that this year, Milwaukee has had 152 homicides, and 710 non-fatal shootings to date, which is more than double the number of shootings from 2019.
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As violent crime increases in St. Louis, residents’ outrage towards Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner appears to be growing as well.
Gardner, who assumed office at the beginning of 2017 on a progressive platform, is St. Louis’ top prosecutor. But she has taken an extremely lax approach to actually prosecuting violent criminals, angering residents and victims’ family members.
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The number of homicides in six major cities across the country has increased compared to last year, disproportionately affecting black people, according to crime data.
Black people have represented a massive share of murder victims in six major cities through the first six months of 2021 compared to last year, which itself saw a large crime surge, according to data analyzed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The DCNF analyzed both police department data and homicide reports compiled by local news outlets to determine how black people have been victimized in the wake of the 2020 crime spike.
“We are seeing an uptick in violent crime across the country, specifically gun violence,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told The New York Times earlier this month.
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2020 was one of the deadliest years in Minneapolis history with 83 homicides, yet the city is on track to surpass that record number in 2021.
The Minneapolis City Council was told Thursday that homicides have more than doubled so far this year compared to the same timeframe last year. This year’s 27 murders (as of May 17) represent a 108% increase over the 13 reported at this point in time last year.
With 97 homicides, 1995 was the worst year on record, followed by 83 in 1996, meaning 2020 tied for the second-worst year.
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Homicides spiked 30% in 34 of the United States’ largest cities in 2020, according to a report conducted by the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice.
Of the cities studied in the report, Chula Vista, California, saw the greatest increase in homicides, with 150% more in 2020 than the previous year. Madison and Milwaukee, the two largest cities in Wisconsin, saw increases of 100% and 85%, respectively, while only four cities – Raleigh, North Carolina; Baltimore; St. Petersburg, Florida; and Virginia Beach – saw declines in 2020.
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Minneapolis experienced a 105% increase in shootings between 2019 and 2020, according to an end-of-year report presented to the City Council last week.
The city recorded 82 homicides in 2020, a 70% increase over 2019’s 48 homicides. Between 2016 and 2019, Minneapolis had an average homicide rate of 41, the report from the Minneapolis Police Department states.
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Los Angeles police announced 300 homicides have occurred in the city so far this year, a figure not seen after a decade of reductions in overall crime and street violence, police department officials said Sunday.
The depressing statistic comes amid growing concerns about spikes in violence this year, not just in Los Angeles but also other big cities across the nation as they continue to grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic and all the social and economic fallout, CNN reports.
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The Department of Justice announced the formation of a new Twin Cities Violent Crimes Task Force Wednesday in response to an “extraordinary spike in gun violence and violent crimes.”
Erica MacDonald, U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota, said the task force will bring together federal and state resources to assist local law enforcement in investigating, arresting, and prosecuting individuals responsible for gun violence.
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