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发帖数: 10729 | 1 Several big U.S. cities see homicide rates surge
After years of declining violent crime, several major American cities
experienced a dramatic surge in homicides during the first half of this year.
Milwaukee, which last year had one of its lowest annual homicide totals in
city history, recorded 84 murders so far this year, more than double the 41
it tallied at the same point last year.
Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said the mounting homicide toll in his
city of 600,000 is driven by Wisconsin's "absurdly weak" gun laws –
carrying a concealed weapon without a state-issued concealed carry is a
misdemeanor in the Badger State – as well a subculture within the city that
affirms the use of deadly violence to achieve status and growing distrust
of police in some parts of the city.
Milwaukee is not alone.
The number of murders in 2015 jumped by 33% or more in Baltimore, New
Orleans and St. Louis. Meanwhile, in Chicago, the nation's third-largest
city, the homicide toll climbed 19% and the number of shooting incidents
increased by 21% during the first half of the year.
In all the cities, the increased violence is disproportionately impacting
poor and predominantly African-American and Latino neighborhoods. In parts
of Milwaukee, the sound of gunfire is so commonplace that about 80% of
gunshots detected by ShotSpotter sensors aren't even called into police by
residents, Flynn said.
"We've got folks out there living in neighborhoods, where . . . it's just
part of the background noise," Flynn told USA TODAY. "That's what we're up
against."
Criminologists note that the surge in murders in many big American cities
came after years of declines in violent crime in major metros throughout the
United States. Big cities saw homicides peak in the late 1980s and early
1990s as crack-cocaine wreaked havoc on many urban areas.
The homicide toll across the country — which reached a grim nadir in 1993
when more than 2,200 murders were counted in New York City — has declined
in ebbs and flows for much of the last 20 years, noted Alfred Blumstein, a
professor of urban systems and operations research at Carnegie Mellon
University in Pittsburgh. Several U.S. cities – including Los Angeles,
Phoenix, San Diego and Indianapolis – have experienced a decrease in the
number of murders so far this year.
Blumstein said the current surge in murders in some big cities could amount
to no more than a blip.
"It could be 2015 represents us hitting a plateau, and by the end of the
year, nationally, we'll see that murder rates are flat or there is a slight
bump up," Blumstein said.
But other experts say the surge in killings suggests that the United States
may be nearing a floor in reducing its murder rate as the federal, state and
local governments increasingly grapple with tighter budgets.
"Why is there a synchronicity among these cities?" said Peter Scharf, an
assistant professor at the LSU School of Public Health whose research
focuses on crime. "One reason may be President Obama is broke. Governors
like Bobby Jindal are broke, and mayors like (New Orleans' Mitch) Landrieu
are broke. You don't have the resources at any level of government to fund a
proactive law enforcement."
Baltimore and Ferguson effect
So far this year, Baltimore recorded 155 homicides, including three people
who were killed late Tuesday evening near the University of Maryland,
Baltimore campus. The 2015 homicide toll is 50 people higher than it was at
the same point last year.
On Wednesday, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake fired Police Commissioner
Anthony Batts, citing the spike in murders in the city.
The firing also came as the police union was set to release a report
hammering the department's response to the unrest in Baltimore following the
death of Freddie Gray, who died one week after sustaining a severe spinal
cord injury while in Baltimore police custody. Gray's treatment was held up
by protesters as an example of the endemic problem of police brutality in
the city and beyond.
"We cannot grow Baltimore without making our city a safer place to live,"
Rawlings-Blake said. "We need a change. This was not an easy decision, but
it is one that is in the best interest of the people of Baltimore. The
people of Baltimore deserve better."
The Charm City, which is seeing some of the worst violence since the 1990s
when it routinely tallied 300 murders annually, recorded 42 killings in May
alone. | a***e
发帖数: 27968 | 2 美国人民认识到犯罪也是人权了
year.
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【在 T*********I 的大作中提到】
: Several big U.S. cities see homicide rates surge
: After years of declining violent crime, several major American cities
: experienced a dramatic surge in homicides during the first half of this year.
: Milwaukee, which last year had one of its lowest annual homicide totals in
: city history, recorded 84 murders so far this year, more than double the 41
: it tallied at the same point last year.
: Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said the mounting homicide toll in his
: city of 600,000 is driven by Wisconsin's "absurdly weak" gun laws –
: carrying a concealed weapon without a state-issued concealed carry is a
: misdemeanor in the Badger State – as well a subculture within the city that
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