Homicides have in increased by 30%, according to a provisional report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics released findings suggesting the rise in homicide rate from 2019 to 2020 are the highest recorded increase in modern history, according to an article from CNN. 

The article goes on to add the previous largest increase in the US homicide rate was a 20% rise recorded from 2000 to 2001 because of the September 11 terror attacks, according to the NCHS. 

“It is the largest increase in 100 years,” Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at NCHS, said in the CNN report. 

It continues with stating the new data shows the U.S. homicide rate increased from roughly six homicides per 100,000 people in 2019 to 7.8 per 100,000 in 2020. According to researchers at NCHS, the 2020 homicide rate of 7.8 is the highest recorded in the US since 1995 but is still significantly lower than the rates in the early 1980s, which topped 10 homicides per 100,000 people. 

In a New York Times report on crime rates, “Even with the rise in murders and a roughly 5 percent increase in violent crime, the new data shows that overall major crimes fell about 4 to 5 percent in 2020.” 

The Times report goes on to imply this could be as a result from the pandemic, where most of the nation was experiencing mass quarantines and lockdowns. 

CNN reports criminology experts attribute the increase in homicides due to several factors. 

“The pandemic closed schools and businesses, leading to unemployment. This meant children and unemployed adults were stuck at home, leading to skyrocketing stress and anxiety levels, especially in lower-income households,” the report reads. 

The report also states the pandemic changed the way police officers do their jobs. Due to illness and incorporating social distancing practices, that in turn led to fewer officers on the streets in areas that needed crime prevention the most. 

Following dozens of police involved shootings of unarmed Black people coupled with the rise in COVID-19 related deaths, the Times theorizes this has caused a decrease in morality among law enforcement agencies.  

In a separate report, the Times shows that major crimes were down overall; however, there were an additional 4,901 homicides reported in 2020 in comparison to 2019.  

“The significant rise has roughly coincided with the 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report reads. “The higher murder rate has continued into 2021, although the pace has slowed as the year has progressed.” 

NCHS plans to release a total number of homicides later this year according to CNN, as more data will be collected in the coming month.