State Overview
Minnesota records a per-capita homicide rate below the national average overall but has experienced a sharp climb in the wake of the 2020 George Floyd protests and the corresponding restructuring of the Minneapolis Police Department, which saw hundreds of officers leave the force. Minneapolis continues to record America's typical mid-size-city homicide pattern, with violence concentrating in North Minneapolis, parts of the Phillips neighborhood, and around the Loring Park area. St. Paul has seen a more gradual rise in violent crime. The state's gun laws combine a permit-to-carry regime with relatively permissive long-gun rules. Minnesota's 2022 prosecution of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd put the state's criminal justice system in the national spotlight. FBI UCR data powers The Murder Channel's Minnesota coverage.