(Newser)
– When Andre Avery drives his commercial truck around Detroit, he keeps his pistol close by. Avery, 57, grew up in Motor City and is aware that homicides and shootings are on the rise, although before the pandemic they were falling in Detroit and elsewhere. His weapon is legal and he carries it for protection. “I remain extremely alert,” said Avery, who now lives near Belleville. “I’m not in a crowd. If something seems a little suspicious, I’m out of there.” In Detroit, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and even in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Milwaukee, 2020 was deadly not just because of the pandemic, but because armed violence is on the rise. Officials and some experts say there is no one clear The reason for the increase is the PA. They point to the social and economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus, public sentiment towards the police after George Floyd’s death at the hands of the police in Minneapolis and a historic shortage of jobs and resources in the poorest communities as contributing factors. It is happening in cities large and small, led by Democrats and Republicans.
Two years ago, Detroit had 261 homicides – the lowest in decades – and about 750 non-fatal shootings in the city of more than 672,000. But with just a few days left in 2020, homicides have already surpassed 300, while non-fatal shootings rose more than 50%, by more than 1,124 by mid-December. “I think the pandemic – COVID – has had a significant emotional impact on people across the country,” said Detroit police chief James Craig. “Individuals are not processing the way they handle disputes. Whether they are domestic workers, arguments, disputes over drugs, there is this speed of using a firearm illegally carried. Some 7,000 guns were seized by mid-December in Detroit, with more than 5,500 illegal weapon arrests. There were 2,797 similar arrests last year. “I haven’t seen a peak like this. But when it’s happening in other cities – some smaller ones – what do we all have in common?” Craig said, “This is where you start thinking about COVID.”
(Read more stories of armed violence.)