Some elected officials have suggested that law enforcement agencies may be partly to blame for the rise in crime. Darren Faulkner, who runs a program that provides social support to those deemed most at risk of violence, said that such cases had left many of his clients feeling “hopelessly trapped in a system in which they will never thrive.”

The killings by police officers of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor that sparked protests around the country may also have contributed to a climate of despair and desperation. The national reckoning over police brutality “What we’re seeing is almost a perfect storm.”

“The pandemic has exacerbated the root causes of gun violence,” Michael Sean Spence, policy and implementation director at the nonprofit group Everytown for Gun Safety, told The Times. In many cases, economic hardship appeared to play a role. In Kansas City, for example, my colleagues have reported that many recent shootings have seemingly had no clear rationale, often arising from petty arguments that devolve into violence. Murder rates typically increase in the summer, but experts told The Times that the coronavirus has compounded the socioeconomic stressors that often give rise to gun violence, including poverty, unemployment, housing instability and hunger. Still, a few potential theories have emerged.

In fact, criminologists still don’t agree on what caused the major decline in crime in the United States over the past three decades, which makes accounting for this most recent spike especially difficult. Why have shootings increased?įluctuations in crime rates are notoriously difficult to explain. What’s behind the rise, and how should cities respond when trust in law enforcement has sunk to record lows? Here’s what people are saying. Murders have spiked this summer in large cities across the country, even as other violent crimes have decreased. The child, Davell Gardner Jr., was another tragic victim of a wave of gun violence that swept New York City in June and July.Īnd not just New York. You can sign up here to receive it on Tuesdays and Thursdays.Ī little over a month ago, not very far from where I live, a small group of Brooklyn residents were enjoying a late-night cookout near a local playground when two gunmen dressed in black approached the group and fired shots, killing a 1-year-old child in his stroller. This article is part of the Debatable newsletter.

Shooting at incline