The Charlotte Observer reports:
Charlotte just posted its highest murder rate in more than a decade, prompting city leaders to say the violence should be treated as a public health crisis.
The city’s rate — 11.6 homicides per 100,000 people — is the highest since 2005 and more than double the rate from just six years ago. That year, 2014, remains Charlotte’s lowest on record. The rate takes into account population growth and is one way to look at deadly violence in Charlotte over time.
This month, city leaders have raised concerns following the 88% increase in the number of homicides in 2019 — 107 — compared with 57 in 2018. …
The report notes a disparity that ought to be of great concern to anyone who truly believes that black lives matter:
Although only 35% of the city’s population is black, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the majority — 80% — of 2019 homicide victims were black, according to the Observer’s analysis of data provided by CMPD. Of those killed, 80% were men.
