How Birmingham Broke a Nearly Century-Old Homicide Record: 1932 study concluding that police brutality, lack of access to education and distrust of the justice system encouraged violence in Black communities.

Rope. Dynamite. Guns. And more guns.

In 1933, Birmingham, then a young city founded on railroads and coal mines, counted 148 homicides, as men, so far as we know, killed each other with all manner of weapons. Some while drinking, others while fighting, others caught up in others’ arguments.

On Wednesday, Birmingham broke that nearly century-old record, as police responded to the 149th homicide of 2024, finding a man shot to death in the front yard of a home in Titusville.

Birmingham stands out among other cities in the state, and country, for its dramatic increase in homicides in recent years.

The city recorded multiple mass shootings in 2024. Instead of one or two bullet casings at a scene, police sometimes documented hundreds. Some people were killed after alleged kidnappings and torture.

Officials pleaded for peace. The killings continued.

https://www.birminghamtimes.com/2024/12/how-birmingham-broke-a-nearly-century-old-homicide-record/