Spates of deadly violence impacted several U.S. cities to start 2023, outpacing the same period in 2022, and experts variously called for proper police funding, community trust-building efforts and investment in at-risk youth in response.

Jacksonville, New Orleans, Minneapolis, the Las Vegas area, Washington, D.C. and Nashville all had more homicides or murders to start 2023 than during the same time last year. Experts advocated for reducing violent crime through strategic investments in community resources.

“We’re less than a month into 2023, so it’s tough to say what a violent start to the year in so many cities will mean,” Speaking to the crime increases in these cities, Georgia Center for Opportunity Criminal Justice Initiatives Director Josh Crawford told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “But we’re now into our 8th year of an upward trajectory in terms of homicide and violent crime.” (RELATED: Theology Professor Found Dead In Apparent Murder-Suicide)