Murder rate sharply increases in major American cities

The murder rate is sharply rising in major US cities following last year’s record decline in homicides experienced by many American cities.

According to new data from city police departments cited in widespread US media sources, murders in Baltimore in 2015 have risen 56 percent to 215 so far this year, compared with 2014, and by 44 percent in Washington DC to 105 killings. While 85 murders were committed in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2014, 136 people have been killed so far this year. In Washington, there have been 105 murders–a 44 percent increase from last year.

2014 saw the fewest murders in recorded history in New York City history but a reported spike in gang-related killings have risen by 9 percent to 208 in 2015. Chicago, which also reported a record low in homicides last year, has had a 20 percent increase in murders to 294 in 2015.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, experienced the biggest rise in murders with a 76 percent increase in the murder rate with 104 murders already this year. The three most dangerous cities in the US according to the data were St Louis, Baltimore and New Orleans.

The murder rate also increased in other US cities, including Kansas City, Dallas and Philadelphia, though to a lesser extent. Darrel W. Stephens, Executive Director of the Major Counties Chiefs Association, told the New York Times: “If you have that many cities that are having that kind of experiences we ought to worry about it.”

The escalation in homicides follows high-profile murder cases including the shooting in August 2014 of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, the assassination of New York City police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in their patrol car and last month’s slaying in Virginia of two TV journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward who were allegedly shot by a disgruntled former colleague.

Federal government, city officials and police have responded to the increase in violent crime by initiating a number of emergency summits and conferences to debate the issue with more crime prevention gatherings planned in the autumn.

Police chiefs and other law enforcement officials met in Washington DC last month in a summit convened by the Major Cities Chiefs Association and produced a series of recommendations related to sentencing reform and stronger gun laws. Cathy Lanier, Washington DC Police Chief who hosted the summit, said: “In a conversation about what was going on in their cities, it was remarkable to me how many of them [police chiefs] were seeing the same thing, some with very striking similarities…we have come too far to lose traction now.”

A conference at the White House was held in July in which mayors and police chiefs gathered to discuss the recommendations of President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing and how they are being implemented. Greg Fischer, Mayor of Louisville, the largest city in Kentucky, said at the gathering: “No one thinks their city cannot be the next Baltimore or Ferguson.”