It s set to be a hot, violent summer
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
After a year in which murders spiked in the U.S., homicides are already trending up in many cities, presaging what
is likely to be a violent summer.
Why it matters: The rise in homicides is a public health crisis that has multiple interlocking causes, which makes solving it that much more difficult. We re still a long way from the murderous days of the 1990s, but rising gun violence is destroying lives and complicating efforts to help cities recover from COVID-19.
A sample of 37 cities with data available for the first three months of 2021 collected by the crime analyst Jeff Asher indicates murders are up 18% over the same period in 2020.
Honolulu Prosecutors Have Long Been Stymied When Investigating Police Killings That s About To Change civilbeat.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from civilbeat.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Mr Garland said last week that the department had opened an investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis after George Floyd’s killing.
An organisation representing police chiefs cautioned that such investigations should be “a collaborative effort”, and said the consent decrees that sometimes followed could prove costly and burdensome.
“Our communities don’t want less cops, they want better cops, and investments must be made in terms of training, recruitment and data collection,” said Laura Cooper, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association.
“Above all, involvement and buy-in from everyone in the department is a must because without it, change and modernisation won’t take root.”