Special Report

Violent Crime Rose in the Pine Bluff, AR Area in 2020

Samuel Stebbins

Published: March 10, 2022 1:13 am

Last Updated: March 11, 2022 12:12 pm

During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. violent crime rate rose to its highest level in a decade. The increase was driven by a rise in aggravated assault and, most notably, a historic 29% surge in homicides that made 2020 the deadliest year in the United States since the mid-1990s.

Violent crime is a broad category of offenses that includes rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and murder. All told, more than 1.3 million violent crimes were reported in the U.S. – or 399 for every 100,000 people – in 2020, an increase of 18 incidents per 100,000 people from the previous year.

Though the precise reasons for the surge have yet to be determined, experts speculate that unrest following the murder of George Floyd, along with social and economic upheaval wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, likely played a role. Gun sales also surged in 2020, and firearms were used in 77% of murder cases, up from 73% in 2019. Here is a look at the states where gun sales are surging.

In the Pine Bluff metro area, located in Arkansas, the violent crime rate rose even faster than it did nationwide. According to the FBI, a total of 950 violent crimes were reported in the area in 2020, or 1,098 for every 100,000 people – higher than the 2019 rate by about 202 incidents per 100,000 people. The increase in Pine Bluff is about 11 times higher than the national increase.

Like most metro areas that reported a near-nation-leading year-over-year surge in violence, the overall violent crime rate in Pine Bluff is higher than the national rate.

All data used in this story is from the FBI. Only metro areas for which the boundaries defined by the FBI match the boundaries as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau were considered. Because some state and local agencies changed reporting practices between 2019 and 2020, the figures are not comparable, and those states and areas were excluded.