Cities that broke homicide records in 2021 often veered left on crime and policing

Many of the 12 cities that experienced record levels of violence in 2021 moved over the past two years to cut police funding, overhaul law enforcement policies, or put fewer people behind bars.

The sweeping changes that city leaders across America pursued came at a time of intense scrutiny of law enforcement after a white Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest attempt in May 2020.

But even some Democratic lawmakers have begun to rethink the reforms championed by activists as the number of homicides nationwide has climbed. The Biden White House, for example, has repeatedly attempted to distance its policies from the “defund the police” movement that some Democrats have come to view as harmful to their electoral prospects.