As Los Angeles continues to struggle with the coronavirus pandemic, economic shockwaves and protests, there is another growing problem: Homicides are up nearly 15% over last year.
The city is hardly alone as a new national study shows that the number of killings, while still far lower than decades ago, climbed significantly in a summer that saw 20 cities’ homicide rates jump 53% compared with the three summer months in 2019.
Homicides increased in places such as Atlanta and Chicago between June and August of 2020, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice.
Los Angeles, which was one of the cities included in the study, has recorded 226 homicides as of Saturday, compared with 197 at the same point in 2019. Since June, killings are up nearly a fifth compared with the prior year, according to data. If the numbers hold, it would mark the largest homicide increase in years.
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