Homicide is the killing of a person by another person. Homicide occurs in all cultures and is a serious crime that disrupts victims’ lives, their friends and families, and their communities. Homicide is the most serious form of violence and often results in imprisonment or death. Homicide is a global concern and there are a variety of theories to explain why people kill others. Some theories focus on patterns in who is killed by whom and why, while other theories consider homicide to be adaptive behavior that our ancestors developed as an anti-predator strategy.
The CCJ’s Crime Trends Working Group analyzed data on homicide victimization, arrests, clearance rates, and the victim-offender relationship among other things to examine the reason for the spike in murders during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and whether it has continued or returned to its pre-pandemic level. This brief — which draws on presentations and discussions by the Working Group members — explores some possible explanations for the increase in murders during the pandemic and social justice protests that occurred mid-2020, as well as how homicide trends may differ between urban and rural areas.