Three Virginia cities — Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach, showed up on WalletHub’s list of the top 50 cities in the country with the highest increase in homicide rates during COVID.
In a survey released last week, the personal finance website placed Norfolk in the No. 16 spot on its list while Chesapeake and Virginia Beach landed at numbers 48 and 50 respectively.
The website noted that homicide rates have risen by an average of 33% in 50 of the most populated U.S. cities between quarter two of 2019 and quarter two of 2021 and are still rising.
To determine which cities have the biggest homicide problems, WalletHub compared 50 of the largest U.S. cities based on per capita homicides in quarter two of 2021, as well as per capita homicides in quarter two of 2021 vs. quarters two of 2020 and 2019.
The top ten cities on the list — those with the highest homicide rate increase — were New Orleans, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee, Louisville, Atlanta, Memphis, and Kansas City, Mo.
To gain some background and perspective into the drastic rise in homicides, WalletHub interviewed a professor from Montclair State University. Asked why there has been such a sudden spike in homicides, he cited “a period of instability/challenge with COVID, social unrest, and political change. During these periods faith in social institutions waivers (like the criminal justice system) and overall social control may weaken.
“In addition, we had people forced to stay home, and a large portion of crimes are committed by those we know, so crimes that recently increased such as domestic violence, assaults, and homicide may be due to interpersonal conflicts, increased use of drugs and alcohol, as well as increased social and economic pressures due to the pandemic.”