The interacting reasons that the U.S. has so many murders is that it has hundreds of millions of guns and tens of millions of blacks. The U.K. has very few guns, so few that the leading weapon of murder is the knife, and is only 3 percent black. But we see the same racial patterns within the U.K. as in the U.S.

From The Guardian:

Killings of black people in England and Wales at highest level since 2002

105 black people were victims of murder and manslaughter in year up to March 2020

In the three years to March last year, the average homicide rate relative to population was around five times higher for black people than white people.

Jamie Grierson Home affairs correspondent
@JamieGrierson
Thu 25 Feb 2021 11.36 EST

The number of black victims of homicide in England and Wales has climbed to its highest level in nearly two decades, official figures have revealed.

A total of 105 black victims of murder and manslaughter were recorded in the 12 months to March 2020, up from 96 the previous year, and the highest since the 12 months to March 2002, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

Black people are more likely to be victims of homicide, the figures show. About 15% of all victims in the period were black, but only 3% of the general population are black. Sixty-four per cent of victims were white, while white people make up 85% of the general population.

(15/3)/(64/85) = 6.6 times more likely to be homicide victims than whites, not 5 times.

… The figures also show black people are more likely to be perpetrators of homicide and murder. Approximately one in five – or 21% – of convicted suspects were black. About 67% of suspects convicted of homicide were identified as white.

(21/3)/(67/85) = 8.9 times more likely to be convicted of murder per capita than whites.

The ONS said the figures showed “clear differences” in the age profile of victims across different ethnic groups.

Approximately half (49%) of black victims in the year to March 2020 were in the 16 to 24 age group, compared with 25% for Asian people and 12% for white victims.

The most common method of killing, for both male and female victims of all ethnicities, was by a knife or other sharp instrument. There were 275 homicides committed using a sharp instrument recorded in the year ending March 2020, 40% of all killings and up 6% year on year.

Now that was yesterday’s news. In today’s U.K. news, from Sky News:

Police unable to explain disproportionate use of powers against minorities, report finds

A watchdog says that, more than 35 years after the introduction of stop and search, “no force fully understands the impact”.

Friday 26 February 2021 06:45, UK

HMICFRS said the disproportionate use of powers could draw more black and ethnic minority people into the criminal justice system

Police are still unable to explain why their powers are disproportionately used on people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, a watchdog has said.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) warned that police risk losing the trust of the communities they serve after the latest inspection on the disproportionate use of powers.

In the report, published on Friday, the inspectorate said: “Over 35 years on from the introduction of stop and search legislation, no force fully understands the impact of the use of these powers.

“Disproportionality persists and no force can satisfactorily explain why.”

The report cited data from 2019/20 that showed ethnic minority people were four times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people.

Black people were about 5.7 times more likely to have force used on them than white people, with figures also showing they were more than nine times as likely to have Tasers drawn on them.

The report reveals black people were eight times more likely to be handcuffed while compliant and three times more likely to have a spit and bite guard used on them than white people, for reasons the inspectorate said are “unclear”.

Maybe it could have something to do with blacks being 8.9 times as likely as whites to be convicted of murder? I mean, I’m just asking…