Homicide Rates Up in Most Big Cities This Year

Law and order became a flash point in this year’s presidential election. And it looks like voters were not wrong to have some anxiety about rising crime—2015 was the first year that saw an increase in homicides in a decade, and the Wall Street Journal is reporting a significant uptick in homicides is occurred in most big cities this year:

Homicides rose in most big American cities in 2016, continuing a worrisome trend for police and criminologists that began last year, even as murder rates in most cities are nowhere near the levels of two decades ago. Sixteen of the 20 largest police departments reported a year-over-year rise in homicides as of mid-December, a Wall Street Journal survey found. Some notched minor increases, while Chicago saw one of the most dramatic jumps, with more than 720 murders—up 56% from 2015.

Trump specifically campaigned on doing something about homicides, though the media repeatedly tried to downplay the problem. In a bit of Trumpian rhetorical excess, he claimed at one point that the murder rate is the “highest it’s been in 45 years.” That’s obviously untrue. Even with the increase in murders over the last two years, the murder rate is still much lower than it was decades ago.