Ferguson writ large

Just as there was an increase in homicides in St. Louis after the Ferguson shooting, there was an increase in homicides in the whole of the United States. As you would expect, just like the decrease in violence that started in the early 90s was bigger among Blacks and Hispanics, the increase after Ferguson affected Blacks and Hispanics more than whites

To simplify things I refer to Non-Hispanic Blacks as Black, Non-Hispanic Whites as White, and Whites of Hispanic origin as simply Hispanics. Because the CDC’s estimates of legal intervention deaths are unreliable I include them in the homicide totals.

Comparing the period August 2014 - July 2016 to August 2012 - July 2014 (the two years before and after Ferguson) there were 3,350 more homicides. You could argue that there are better conterfactuals, and you’d be right of course, but this is a good first approximation.