New York, February 3 (RHC)-- A U.S. study shows that 2020 saw a historic increase in the number of murders in the United States compared to previous years, as well as upticks in other violent crimes.  The study sampling crime statistics from 34 American says homicide rates jumped by 30 percent from 2019 to 2020 – more than 1,200 additional murders on top of the 2019 total.

"Homicide rates were higher during every month of 2020 relative to rates from the previous year," says report from the National Commission of COVID-19 and Criminal Justice (NCCCJ). The “troubling” increase “has no modern precedent.”

The largest cities in the sample were New York, Chicago and Los Angeles – accounted for a staggering 40 percent of the noted increase in murder rates. The smallest is Norfolk, Virginia, with 245,000 residents.

The report said the 2020 murder rates for January and February increased by more than 32 percent, then dipped to 19 percent for the period of March through May, when strictest and most widespread COVID-19 lockdown restrictions were in place.  The figures rose to 37 percent in the summer months, and dipped to 28 percent for the rest of the year.

"COVID-related restrictions may have had an initial suppressive effect on homicides, but the waning of those restrictions, coupled with the strain on at-risk individuals and key institutions – aggravated further by the lack of outreach to such individuals – have all likely contributed to elevated homicide rates in 2020," the study noted.

The U.S. report said urgent action is necessary to address these rapidly rising rates, in particular homicides that increased in nearly all of the 34 American cities in the sample.  It stated that subduing the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing confidence in the police and the justice system, and implementing proven anti-violence strategies will be necessary to takes such increasing crime rates in the United States.