Several big U.S. cities see homicide rates surge
Several big U.S. cities see homicide rates surge Thursday July 9 th , 2015 at 11:23 AM 1 Share Police collect evidence at the scene of a shooting on in Chicago, Illinois. Several major metros--including Baltimore, Chicago and New York--have experience an increase in homicides during the first half of 2015. (Photo: Scott Olson, Getty Images) After seeing years of decline in violent crime, several major American cities experienced a dramatic surge in homicides during the first half of this year. Milwaukee, which had one of its lowest annual homicide totals in city history last year, has recorded 80 murders so far this year, more than double the 39 it tallied at the same point last year. Milwaukee police chief Edward Flynn said the mounting homicide toll in his city of 600,000 is being driven by Wisconsin's "absurdly weak" gun laws (carrying a concealed weapon without a state-issued concealed carry is a misdemeanor in the Badger