Trump’s cuts to intervention programs could increase violent crime, experts say

H omicides in the US have fallen dramatically in recent years after a spike during the Covid-19 pandemic, but now some advocates for community violence intervention programs worry federal funding cuts by the Trump administration will reverse that trend. In April 2025, more than $800m in grants was cut from the Department of Justice’s office of justice programs aimed at preventing and responding to gun violence, among other causes. While the justice department justified the cuts by stating that it was instead focusing on “prosecuting criminals”, some experts argue that intervention programs are more effective at reducing violence than simply making arrests. “We saw historic reductions in homicides, which means that countless fewer families had to bury loved ones,” said Shani Buggs, an assistant professor at the University of California, Davis, who studies community violence prevention. “It is beyond disheartening that rather than investing and [studying] what worked and pouring into what worked, we are doing the opposite.” In 2020, when the pandemic started, the US saw its murder rate increase 30% over 2019, the largest-ever recorded increase, according to the FBI. Other violent offenses also increased. That happened because of the Covid lockdown, experts say. …