Rise in homicides across country blamed on “Minneapolis effect”

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SALT LAKE CITY – Concerns over the increase in homicides across the country are explained by law professor Paul Cassell as the “Minneapolis effect”.

A press release from the University of Utah’s SJ Quinney College of Law explained that while most crime categories are stable or trending slightly down, homicides are on the rise.

“There appears to be a decline in some forms of policing as a result of the anti-police protests,” Professor Cassell said. “This ‘Minneapolis Effect’ similar to an earlier ‘Ferguson Effect’ is leading to an increase in shootings across the country,” Cassell added.

The cities of Ferguson, Missouri and Minneapolis, Minnesota have seen protests and riots after unarmed black men in each city were killed by police. In 2014, protests erupted across the country after the police murder of 18-year-old Micheal Brown. Another national uprising occurred in 2020 when a police officer knelt on George Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, resulting in his death.

“My research suggests that following the suppression of the police in June and July 2020, an additional 710 victims were murdered and more than 2,800 victims were shot due to the redeployment of law enforcement away from the city. proactive policing, ”Cassell said.

He gives more details about the murders in an article he wrote entitled “Explaining the Recent Homicide Spikes in US Cities: The ‘Minneapolis Effect’ and the Decline in Proactive Policing”.

Cassell suggests that the reasons that we think would affect the increase in homicides across the country are in fact not affecting more murders.

“They are not explained by violence during protests, nor are they attributable to normal seasonal variations,” Cassell noted. The COVID-19 pandemic also does not appear to be a triggering cause, as spikes in homicides began long after social distancing began in this country and stay-at-home orders were starting to be relaxed, “continued Cassell.

Tune in to KSLNewsradio at 1:05 p.m., when Boyd Matheson talks to Cassell about what this means for Utah and if there is a slight increase in homicides.

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