Minneapolis experienced a 105% increase in shootings between 2019 and 2020, according to an end-of-year report presented to the City Council last week.
The city recorded 82 homicides in 2020, a 70% increase over 2019’s 48 homicides. Between 2016 and 2019, Minneapolis had an average homicide rate of 41, the report from the Minneapolis Police Department states.
The number of gunshot wound victims jumped from 269 in 2019 to 551 in 2020, a one-year change of 105%. The average number of shootings reported across the previous four years was 283, the MPD said.
The only violent crimes that saw a decrease in 2020 were rape and domestic aggravated assault, which were down 21% and 7.7% respectively.
Robberies were up by 46.6% on the year while aggravated assaults saw a 23.5% increase.
Apart from larceny, all categories of property crimes increased in 2020, including burglaries (+18.4%), auto thefts (+35.9%), and arsons (+69.5%).
Theft of motor vehicle parts, a subcategory of larceny, increased by 660% in 2020, likely because of the rising price of precious metals found inside catalytic converters, the MPD said.
Carjackings, different from auto thefts in that the owner is inside the vehicle when the robbery occurs, increased by 301% — from 101 in 2019 to 405 in 2020.
St. Paul experienced a milder increase in both violent crimes (up 25 percent) and property crimes (up 14.9 percent).
St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell attributed the rise in crime to the “global pandemic, historic levels of rioting and very real economic pain.”
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
