Wisconsin’s inability to get a handle on violent crime is having a disproportionate effect on blacks, and it’s one of the worst disparities in the country, a new report found.
Wisconsin has the “second highest Black homicide victimization rate in the nation with a rate of 45.72 per 100,000—twice the national Black homicide victimization rate and seven and a half times the overall homicide rate nationwide,” a new analysis by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) shows.
Missouri ranked number one.
The City of Milwaukee, which has decimated Milwaukee police staffing levels, is driving the numbers. The homicide disparity is occurring against a backdrop of criminal justice problems.
Milwaukee County has failed to fix a severe felony backlog, allowing offenders to remain longer on the streets. The jail is refusing to book some people on misdemeanor warrants meaning police often just give those individuals a piece of paper to show up for court, on their honor. The governor has expanded the state’s early release program from prison, and parolees who commit news crimes are not always incarcerated.
The annual study, Black Homicide Victimization in the United States: An Analysis of 2020 Homicide Data, also “ranks the states according to their Black homicide victimization rates,” a press release from the center says.
“It is based on unpublished data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR). The study details homicide rates for 2020, the most recent year for which comprehensive national data is available. This is the 17th year the Violence Policy Center has released the study. To see past editions of the study, click here.”
“The consistent, disproportionate impact of homicide on Black men, women, boys, and girls is a national shame. Guns are almost always the weapon used, and the ripple effects of each death ravage families, friends, and whole communities. Each year we release this information to help support violence prevention advocates and organizations working on the local level while continuing to educate and engage policymakers and the public on the need to address this national crisis,” state VPC Executive Director Josh Sugarmann.
The report notes: “This is the 2nd year in a row that Wisconsin has ranked within the 10 states in the nation with the highest Black homicide victimization rates.”
- “Of the 199 Black homicide victims, 158 were male and 41 were female.
- Twenty-four Black homicide victims (12 percent) were less than 18 years old and 3 victims (2 percent) were 65 years of age or older. The average age was 31 years old.
- When the weapon used could be identified, 95 percent of the Black homicide victims (169 out of 177) were killed with guns. Of these, 33 percent (55 victims) were killed with handguns.
- For homicides in which the victim-to-offender relationship could be identified, 66 percent of Black homicide victims (52 out of 79) were killed by someone they knew. Twenty-seven were killed by strangers.
- For homicides in which the circumstances could be identified, 79 percent (93 out of 118) were not related to the commission of any other felony. Of these, 47 percent (44 homicides) involved arguments between the victim and the offender.”
