2021 saw a spike of homicides in Winston-Salem

Police say homicides in Winston-Salem rose by about 50 percent last year compared to 2020.

Homicides have been creeping upwards in Winston-Salem since 2012. 2020 was the first small dip in that trend, but last year's total of 44 matched the highest raw number in more than 25 years.

Gregory Dorn is a lieutenant in the police department's criminal investigations division. He says there doesn't seem to be a simple explanation.

“We can't really say that, 'hey, there's a gang war,' there's nothing like that," he says. "It's just sporadic killings, and people just being mean to one another, and no self-control. And gun accessibility, I'm sure is an issue.”

Dorn says it could have been worse. Improvements in trauma care have kept some of the shootings from becoming killings.

"Atrium Health [Wake Forest Baptist] trauma teams have been amazing," he says.

He also says he's pleased that more people in the community seem to be cooperating with police to help solve the violence problem.

Dorn says the previous record for the raw number of city homicides was 44 in 1994. Winston-Salem's boundaries have expanded since then through annexation, and the population has also grown significantly.