MINNEAPOLIS — There were many aspects of our lives that changed or even completely stopped when the pandemic hit.
"2020 was an important year, because we spent most of it locked down because of the COVID-19 pandemic," James Densley said.
One aspect didn't slow down, though.
In fact, it spiked.
"Crime declined, and then all of a sudden it went up. And then it really went up in 2020 and 2021," Densley continued.
Densley is part of The Violence Prevention Project at Hamline University. There, he, alongside Jillian Peterson, are looking into the root causes of homicides in the Twin Cities.
Nationwide, Densley says crime saw a jump – and we weren't excluded.
"The Twin Cities were certainly not immune from that nationwide trend," he said.
Their research shows our homicide numbers – both in Minneapolis and St. Paul – spiked during the pandemic. Data shown by Densley and Peterson shows murders in Minneapolis were at their second highest level since 1960 during the pandemic.
St. Paul saw its most murders ever, according to the pair.
As for the root causes of this, there are many, but they point to the pandemic as a big reason.
"There was a loss of some of the protective factors that perhaps we had taken for granted, that was so important for stemming the tide of violence," Densley said.
That directly relates to the number of young people who are committing these acts. The pair point to more freedom for these kids as a potential reason.
Another major cause – arguments that escalate into more.
"Turn to gun violence very quickly over seemingly very small things," Peterson said.
Small things leading to big concerns, and an opportunity to study why.
"The findings are fascinating, shocking, and potentially have huge implications for the way in which we think about gun violence in society," Densley said.
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