Murder rates soar 47% in San Jose against backdrop of progressives’ call to defund the police

Homicide rose in many U.S. cities in the first half of 2021, even as demands from progressive advocates to actually reduce police budgets continued. The Wall Street Journal reports on data from Major City Chiefs Association.

Nationwide, homicides rose 21% in 66 of the country’s largest cities during the first half of the year. The causes of the homicide rise have been fiercely debated. Some politicians and police officials have said that a police pullback has been a factor in places like Portland, Ore., which has been a large increase in homicides. Some researchers blame frayed relations between law enforcement and Black communities after such high-profile police killings, such as that of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Others point to the stress from the COVID-19 pandemic and the temporary shutdown of the court system.

{Editors’ note: Local progressives’ arguments for defunding the police can be found here.}

Other cities homicide rate change:

NYC: +37%

Los Angeles: +29%

Philadelphia: +34%

Dallas: +6%

Jacksonville, FL: -29%

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