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Crime In Birmingham

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Since 2005, the year Birmingham was claimed to be the ‘murder capital’ of the United States, over 889 homicides have occurred (DeSilver). Birmingham this year alone, is estimated for 47.5 homicides per 100,000 residents, more homicides than what granted them the ‘murder capital’ of the United States in 2005 (BHAM Wiki). Most, if not all, of these homicides are whitewashed as rapes, drugs, guns, robberies, and domestic violence, as the cause, but the question is what lead up for these homicides to happen? What happened that caused Birmingham to go from a record with low amount of homicides in 2014 to a 26% increase, placing it in the FBI’s most homicidal cities in 2015 & 2016? Birmingham is embedded with strain and tension built up over years of history, which derives from economic inequality and fractured race …show more content…

Murders in Birmingham are diverse and were whitewashed for different reasons by the law force. One major reason homicides were rising was due to the FBI crime report. According to FBI crime reports, Birmingham was cited to be the 5th in most violent crimes, which consists of rape, robbery, and assault, while also, in the same report, placing 4th in property crime, which consists of burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. The second main reason the police used to explain high homicide rates were due to drugs and guns in the community. The police and local government officials of Birmingham had the mindset that because violent and property crimes were increasing in Birmingham, and guns and drugs were accessible, it must be the correlation to the high murder rates. Even though the police came up with this conclusion, their reasoning and conclusion of the matter was still faced with great resistance; as Birmingham homicide Capt. Herman Hinton said, "There's no rhyme or reason [for homicide rates]" (“Homicides in

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