Dauphin News

Communities around the country continue to experience a surge in crime rates – and Pennsylvania is no exception to it. Now, experts are finding that minority communities are being affected most.

"The nation’s large cities are so swamped by horrific crime and violence that police, criminologists and a few honest elected Democrats are finally conceding the obvious: The progressive movement, including Black Lives Matter, that ostensibly aimed to protect minority racial groups by defunding the police and coddling criminals backfired big time," Michael Goodwin, a columnist from the New York Post, said.

FBI data shows that although Pennsylvania has the highest violent crime rate of any state in the Northeast, it measures closely to the national rate, The Center Square reported. In 2020, there were 49,793 violent crimes reported in the state – or 390 for every 100,000 people. No state reported a greater year-over-year increase in violence than Pennsylvania. Driven by spikes in aggravated assault and homicide, Pennsylvania's violent crime rate rose 27% from 2019 to 2020.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Harrisburg has a large minority population, as 51% of its residents are black and the poverty rate is over 25%.

According to an article from 2021 by ABC 27 News, Pennsylvania is ranked seventh for the highest black homicide victimization rate in the nation. In the city of Harrisburg, there were more homicide recorded in 2020 than in the past 30 years.

On a national level during the year 2020, a disproportionate amount of black individuals were murdered compared to white individuals. According to Fox News, experts say this is largely due to defund the police movements – which actually aimed to protect minority racial groups. In 2020, the FBI reported 9,941 murders of black Americans. In 2019, that number shot up to 7,484 – a near 33% increase in just one year. Between 2010 and 2019, black murders shot up by 43%. In April, Manhattan Institute's Heather Mac Donald told Fox News Digital that the Black Lives Matter and defund the police movements contributed to 2020's crime spike and had nothing to do with the coronavirus and lockdowns. The spike "began months after lockdowns beginning only after riots," noting the "spike was not at all related to COVID."

In a recent New York Post opinion piece, Michael Goodwin acknowledges that an increase in crime is most pronounced for nonwhite groups, and the same is true when we see a decline in crime. He also points out that "the people the progressives claimed to be helping actually were harmed by the anti-police, pro-criminal policies."

FBI data shows there were 7,043 white people murdered in 2020. When compared to white people, 2,898 more black people were killed that year.

In light of midterm elections coming up, a Vox article predicts local and statewide races are where crime will be a defining factor for many Democrat candidates, since that's where policies are enacted and Democrats are typically known to be looser on crime. The article also points out that in 2021, violent crime, including assaults and murders, was up from years past. In 27 U.S. cities, homicides rose 44% from 2019, and 5% from 2020.