More guns, pandemic stress and a police legitimacy crisis created perfect conditions for homicide spike in 2020
- Written by Justin Nix, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska Omaha
What role did the pandemic play in the hike in murders in 2020?Mark Makela/Getty ImagesHomicides in the U.S. spiked by almost 30% in 2020.
That was the main takeaway from figures released on Sept. 27, 2021, by the FBI that showed almost uniform increases across America in the murder rate.
The fact that big cities, small cities, suburbs and rural...