Podcast: Louisville on Pace for Most Violent Summer and Year Ever

Across the country, a number of cities, especially Louisville, are dealing with some of their most violent months in history. As of July 7, Louisville had seen a 40% increase in murders and 107% rise in non-fatal shootings. As of that date, Louisville had seen 67 homicides and 257 shootings. According to WAVE 3 News, since May 28, 40% of the year’s shootings have occurred, meaning out of the 257 shooting victims, 102 of them were shot within the last six weeks. Data from the end of June shows nearly 60% of these shootings have occurred in the 1st and 2nd divisions. Year to date, the 1st division has seen a 258.8% increase in shootings in 2020 compared to 2019. While most cities annually see upticks in shootings during the summer months, here in Louisville, this June has had more shootings than any other June in the city's history.

According to data from Christopher 2X Game Changers, in the first two weeks of July, Louisville had 14 homicides and 32 non fatal shootings. August of 2016 marked the deadliest month in the last 5 years with 17 homicides in total. At this rate, July will easily eclipse that mark.

Louisville's deadliest year on record was 2016 with 122 homicides.

On this week's episode of the Pegasus Podcast we discuss the concerning rise in violent crime in Louisville and across the country.

Listen to that segment HERE.

A recent piece in the Wall Street Journal discusses these increases across the country. Cities that have seen declines in violent crime for decades are now seeing increases. Cities that have been experiences increases in the last decade, including Louisville, are now seeing record breaking violent crime rates.

From WSJ: In Milwaukee, homicides are up 37% so far this year, on pace to break the record of 167 in 1991, which included 16 murders by convicted serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Homicides so far this year in Chicago are ahead of the pace of 2016, which marked the city’s highest tally since 1996. In New York and Los Angeles, which have seen falling numbers of homicides for years, killings this year are up 23% and 11.6%, respectively. Kansas City, Mo., has recorded 99 killings since January, far outpacing any record for the first six months of the year.

New York City disbanded its anticrime unit of plainclothes officers on June 15, part of a $1 billion reduction in the city’s police budget. The city logged 205 shootings in June, the highest for the month since 1996.

There were 27 homicides in Chicago in the week ended July 5, a 125% increase from a year earlier, according to Chicago Police Department data. Twenty-five of the killings were in the heavily Black or Hispanic South and West sides.

In Philadelphia, the number of gunshot victims had been steadily increasing since 2014, when 1,047 people were shot. At the current rate, the city could have its highest total since 2007. City officials recently cut the proposed $760 million budget by $33 million, a combination of lower-than-expected tax revenue and calls to retool the police department.