HOW’S THAT DEFUNDING THE POLICE WORKING OUT FOR YOU? Explaining the Great 2020 Homicide Spike. Progressive politicians and journalists are pretending the nationwide surge in shootings and murders was due to the pandemic, as in this ridiculous NPR report. But numbers don’t lie. The spike was clearly due to the decline in “proactive policing,” which was caused by the war on cops that started with the George Floyd protests.