SUMMER SPIKE

America’s Pandemic Summer Had Higher Violent Crime Rates Nationwide: Report

Murders increased by 53 percent compared to last summer, a report by the Council for Criminal Justice finds.

The number of homicides in 27 cities nationwide was 53 percent higher over the summer compared to 2019, according to a new report by the Council on Criminal Justice. The nonpartisan research group also found aggravated assaults were up 14 percent, though property and drug-related crimes plummeted. Despite these increases, however, nationwide crime rates remain at or near historic lows. The report’s conclusion also notes a spike in nonresidential burglaries in early June, “notable for its abruptness, size, brevity, and timing” coinciding with nationwide civil unrest following George Floyd’s death in late May. Limited to a single week, the report says it ended “as abruptly as it began,” calling into question claims made by President Trump and other GOP leaders that widespread property damage and looting continued into the summer.