Abstract
This study investigates the aftermath of a high-profile violent police incident as it relates to city-wide firearm violence. Utilizing two Midwest cities (Kansas City, Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska) as comparison cities, we assess whether violent firearm incidents increased in Minneapolis after the murder of George Floyd. Multiple interrupted time-series analyses showed statistically significant increases in weekly firearm incidents in Minneapolis (AME = 10.63, p < 0.05) and Omaha (AME = 1.47, p < 0.5) following the murder of George Floyd. No significant results were found in Kansas City. Similar relationships were found when examining monthly firearm incidents. The firearm spike in Minneapolis thus represents an approximate 10-fold increase in weekly firearm incidents relative to that observed in Omaha. We conclude, therefore, that the murder of George Floyd was associated with a substantially greater increase in firearm violence in Minneapolis than in the two comparison cities. Police training to reduce police violence and public health approaches to reduce urban firearm violence will alleviate the social and economic impacts of violence on federal and state governments.
Highlights
Police violence against unarmed Black men, such as the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, has brought about substantial societal discussion and has been deemed a serious public health issue [1]
During the timeframe of the study, Minneapolis experienced a total of 1351 firearm incidents (3.87 incidents per week on average, 16.15 per month), Omaha experienced 858 firearm incidents (2.46 incidents per week on average, 10.70 per month), and Kansas City experienced 1640 firearm incidents (4.70 incidents per week on average, 20.02 per month)
Omaha experienced an average of 2.39 firearm incidents per week pre-intervention (10.51 per month) and 2.74 incidents per week post-intervention (11.47 per month), while Kansas City experienced an average of 4.66 incidents per week pre-intervention (19.75 per month) and 4.87 incidents per week on average post-intervention (21.12 per month)
Summary
Police violence against unarmed Black men, such as the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, has brought about substantial societal discussion and has been deemed a serious public health issue [1]. Community–police relations are tarnished following such events, leading to a lack of trust and confidence in the police [3]. High-profile police violence may lead to widespread violence, especially in jurisdictions in which these events occur. Firearm violence is one of the leading causes of morbidity and death in the U.S, ranking highest in firearm-related homicides compared to other modernized countries [7]. Using Minneapolis as the primary city of interest, the present study investigates whether violent firearm incidents (hereafter “firearm incidents”) increased following the murder of George Floyd. The findings from this study have implications for public health, clinical, and police outcomes
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
