Murder Rate Spike Could Be 'Ferguson Effect,' DOJ Study Says

The horrific attack at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., has captured the nation's attention, but the great majority of homicides are not due to mass shootings. And in the last year or so, the murder rate has jumped in America's big cities.

"We are in the midst of a very abrupt, precipitous and large crime increase," says Richard Rosenfeld, a respected criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He is the author of a study released Wednesday by the Justice Department examining reasons for the increase. Specifically, murder is spiking — in urban areas. Rosenfeld says last year in the country's 56 biggest cities, homicides jumped 17 percent.

"That's a far larger percentage increase than in nearly any other year we've seen over the last couple of decades," Rosenfeld says....
http://www.npr.org/2016/06/15/482123552/murder-rate-spike-attributed-to-ferguson-effect-doj-study-says?ft=nprml&f=1001