US cities saw a historic homicide increase in 2020
Homicide rates across 34 large US cities increased by 30% last year. If that holds true nationwide, it will eclipse the previous record for a single-year increase.
Government / Policing
Policing
What does Joe Biden mean for sanctuary cities?
Donald Trump's immigration policies put many US cities on the defensive. The new administration wants a clean break from the past, but states could still stand in the way.
How Los Angeles County voters secured a budget for prison alternatives
Proponents see Measure J as a means of achieving racial and economic justice through fiscal policy and hope the model can be replicated in other cities.
Young Americans see local government as the future of democracy
Frustrated by the status quo, more and more young people are running for local government, where they believe they can effect progressive change.
How the rise of anti-crime politics caused lasting harm to black Americans
Law professor James Forman Jr discusses the dangers of overreacting to an uptick in violent crime.
White Papers
US policing never adjusted to the decades-long decline in urban violence
US cities are about as safe as ever, but police practices don't reflect that, says sociologist Patrick Sharkey.
Camden, New Jersey, isn’t really a model for police reform
Beneath the hype, the city's experience is much more complicated.
How America became over-policed and under-policed at the same time
Author and journalist Jill Leovy explains how the United States has failed to extend state protection equally to all citizens.
The reality of US city budgets: Police funding eclipses most other agencies’
City Monitor analysed the past three years of general-fund budgets from US cities that have seen major or noteworthy protests in 2020.
There’s no real evidence that curfews work
American cities imposed nightly curfews to tame protests after the killing of George Floyd. It's a controversial and possibly ineffective decision.
