Homicide Is Soaring In The Grand Rapids-Kentwood Metro Area

Grand Rapids MI

11 October, 2021

3:08 PM

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By Samuel Stebbins, 24/7 Wall St. - Grand Rapids 2021-10-10 Homicides are rising at a record pace in the United States. According to a recent FBI report, there were a total of 21,570 murders committed in 2020, the most of any year in the last two and a half decades and up nearly 30% from 2019 — the largest annual increase on record. The spike in homicides came during a tumultuous year. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools and left millions of Americans out of work. Footage of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer rattled confidence in American law enforcement and sparked nationwide protests. Firearms sales soared, and tens of millions of new guns proliferated across communities nationwide. Here is a look at the states where gun sales are surging. Some experts speculate that each of these factors likely played a role in rising homicide rates nationwide. While it may be years before the precise causal factors are identified, many U.S. cities are bearing the brunt of the rash of deadly violence. In metropolitan areas across the country, the increase in homicides last year eclipsed the national surge — in some cases, many times over. Homicide cases jumped by over 108% in the Grand Rapids, Michigan, metro area, from 24 in 2019 to 50 in 2020. Despite the increase, the local homicide rate of 4.6 per 100,000 people remains below the 6.5 per 100,000 national rate. For Grand Rapids proper, 2020 will go down as the deadliest year in the city's history to date. The overall violent crime rate climbed by about 9% across the metro area last year, and the Grand Rapids Police Department took an average of 360 911 calls per day. All data in this story is at the metro area level from the FBI. Only metro areas with populations of at least 250,000 residents and at least one homicide in 2019 were considered.     Can't see the article's infographic? Click here to view the original story.This story was originally published by 24/7 Wall St., a news organization that produces real-time business commentary and data-driven reporting for state and local markets across the country.