What are the homicide rates in Kern County?
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO)  President Joe Biden wants to tackle crime around the nation and he's rolling out a wide range of executive orders aimed at reforming gun control. The actions Monday are an expansion of orders signed in April when the president cracked down on red flag laws and ghost guns. Now he's taking steps to prosecute rogue firearms dealers and add more police officers to high crime areas. National Politics Biden anti-crime effort takes on law-breaking gun dealers The Associated Press & Scripps National  Earlier this week the Department of Justice also announced its task force focused on gun trafficking in major cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. All this comes as the Council on Criminal Justice announced most crimes spiked last year. Violent Crimes Jumped in 2020  Instances of aggravated assaults were up about 6 percent compared to 2019. Other assaults involving guns were also up about 8 percent. Reports of domestic violence jumped sharply during the first few months of 2020 but by the end of the year was about the same as 2019. Homicides saw the biggest increase in 2020 with an increase of about 30 percent compared to the year before. Kern County's Homicides Through the Years  When it comes to homicides, Kern County is no exception to an increase in cases. In 2018 there were 101 homicides according to the district attorney. Numbers went down slightly in 2019, where Kern saw 90 homicides. Then in 2020 there were 136 homicides in Kern County. So far this year, the county has seen close to 60 deaths.