The Divergence of Homicide Counts 1960-2020

• In Event: Homicide Rates in the US and Abroad

Abstract

Between 1960 and 2020 national estimates of the risk of homicide based on police data and death certificate records increasingly diverged. In the 1960s the difference was small, fewer than 200 victims, by 2020 the difference was more than 3000 victims. This paper describes the divergence at the national and state level and provides some of the reasons for the divergence.

Authors

• Colin Kim Loftin, University at Albany, SUNY

• David McDowall, University at Albany, SUNY

• Min Xie, University of Maryland, College Park