Data from city police departments reveal that murder rates have increased since last year in 35 cities across the country, according to The New York Times.
Milwaukee alone has seen a 76 percent increase in murder rates, from 59 at this time last year to 104 so far this year. There, a mother of five lost her 20-year-old daughter and 19-year-old son in two apparently unconnected shootings over the last eight months, according to the report. A third daughter, age 17, was wounded in another shooting before the family moved from the city.
Gun violence is more than a criminal issue in the U.S. — it is a public health issue. Earlier this year, seven physician organizations, the American Public Health Association and the American Bar Association issued a call to action to the medical community to research strategies to reduce injuries and deaths from guns, among other recommendations to strengthen gun safety.
Based on the data presented by The New York Times, gun violence is a growing public health issue — homicides are up in many cities that had achieved their lowest rates in decades last year. Here are nine things to know about the sharp uptick in gun violence and where it may be stemming from, according to the report.
1. Murder rates are up at this point in the year compared to the same period last year in 35 big cities across the country, most notably in Milwaukee (up 76 percent), St. Louis (60 percent), Baltimore (56 percent), Washington (44 percent), New Orleans (22 percent), Chicago (20 percent), Kansas City, Mo. (20 percent), and Dallas (17 percent), according to the report. Year-to-date data ranges from Aug. 11 to Aug. 31, according to the report.
2. However, rates are still well below peak violent crime rates in the 1980s and 1990s. Milwaukee's killings peaked at 165 in 1991, according to the report. Many other cities have also reported stable homicide numbers.
3. Experts say there is no one explanation for the jump in crime this year, according to the report, and different factors are at work in different cities.
4. Officials from some cities like Chicago — which counts 294 homicides this year already — report gangs, drug turf and the availability of guns contribute largely to the issue, according to the report.
5. Repeat offenders are also cited as an issue. "Across the country, we've all found it's not the individual who never committed a crime before suddenly killing somebody," Chicago Superintendent of Police Garry McCarthy said, according to The New York Times.
6. Others postulate the rise in violence can be attributed to the "Ferguson effect," which suggests that the 2014 killing of the unarmed Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., has shifted the balance between police and offenders, according to the report. This theory suggests police are more delicately approaching crime and criminals are more aggravated.
7. Many doubt the verity of the "Ferguson effect." Perhaps most telling is information cited in the report from University of Missouri-St. Louis criminologist Richard Rosenfeld, PhD, who told The New York Times crime had been increasing in 2014 before Michael Brown's death, implying there is more going on to influence the increase in murders and gun-related violence.
8. Other officials quoted in the article noted something more subtle as a root cause of the issue — a culture of violence. Police officials said many of the violent events are unexplained, of-the-moment and over petty disputes, according to the report.
9. Police chiefs are aware of the issue and scheduled a summit in August to discuss the violence, according to the report. The Department of Justice plans to address it with an initiative at a September conference as well, according to the report.
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