Early on Christmas morning a massive explosion rocked the city of Nashville, Tenn. A handful of people were wounded and buildings and vehicles were damaged.
As the Associated Press reported, police were responding to a call of shots fired and while they found no immediate evidence of that, they did notice a suspicious vehicle and called a specialized unit to investigate. As they waited, the vehicle exploded.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the explosion, which officials believe to be intentional.
Smoke and flames were seen by eyewitnesses and social media was wall-to-wall with video and eyewitness accounts of the event, which took place directly in the epicenter of Nashville’s tourist area.
Unfortunately, crime has skyrocketed throughout major metropolitan areas of the United States in 2020.
In New York City, shootings jumped by 112% in November with 115 reported by NYPD. In 2019 the total number of shootings for the same month was just 51. For the entire year, shootings are up 95% (1,412 vs. 721) through the first 11 months of 2020 compared to 2019.
The total number of murders in NYC are up 38% compared to 2019 (422 vs. 305).
In Boston, homicides are up 54.3% in 2020 over 2019. Fatal shootings are up 57.1% and nonfatal shootings are up 42%, according to a report published in the Boston Herald.
As of November Los Angeles had recorded 300 homicides for the first time in a decade. That’s up from 257 homicides reported in all of 2019.
As of last month, Philadelphia had reached the third-highest single-year homicide total in the last 60 years. The highest in 30 years. Shootings were up 60% year over year.
Likewise, the homicide rate in Houston, Texas, has skyrocketed in 2020, up 44% as of November. More than 350 people had been murdered, surpassing the number of fatalities during the last spike in 2007.
Thankfully, at the moment, Lowell and Fitchburg have avoided such dramatic increases but with the sudden surge in unemployment across the nation, every community is at risk.
There are several factors at play to which some attribute the rise in violent crimes.
First, many metropolitan police have themselves suffered from the coronavirus. Also, this summer more cops were assigned to handle protests and civil unrest, and had to move away from community-based policing.
With the “defund the police” movement and the white hot scrutiny on officers following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police, many officers may be less willing to risk their jobs to make a stop.
Interestingly, with more people staying home because of the coronavirus, other crimes like home burglaries have plummeted in many communities across the country.
Experts do not yet have all the answers as to why this sudden spike in deadly violence has gripped the country, but doubtless this phenomenon will continue to be studied for years to come. The trend is tragic and devastating to more impoverished and diverse communities that have already been hit hard by COVID-19.
While this pandemic continues to ravage us and criminals continue to feel more emboldened we must be sure to support local law enforcement and endeavor to help those who are the most marginalized and may be tempted to turn to crime in order to improve their fortunes.
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December 28, 2020 at 01:03PM
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Violent crime: A deadly byproduct of 2020 - Lowell Sun
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