Would-be criminals may be heeding stay-at-home orders, as major cities across the United States report significant dip in major crimes like burglary, assault, murder, robbery and grand larceny, a drop likely influenced by a lack of opportunity as businesses close and streets empty.
- In Chicago, drug arrests have dropped by 42% in the weeks since the city shut down, the Associated Press reports, while in Los Angeles, the rate of key crimes plummeted 30% after March 15.
- New York City—the nation’s hard-hit epicenter, where nearly 20% of the city’s police force reported sick this week—is also experiencing a double-digit decrease in crime.
- “In some sense, it’s like a giant blizzard has hit and there’s 10 feet of snow on the ground,” a former police officer and criminal justice professor told the Washington Post.
- In a study by USA Today, 19 out of 20 police agencies recorded a lower number of criminal incidents since March 15, and the agencies studied also reported a significant decrease in traffic stops, down as much as 92% in some areas.
- But it’s not all good news: While drug crimes and homicides are plummeting, the rate of domestic violence, which may be exacerbated by shelter-in-place orders, shows signs of surging.
- Nuisance complaints—and especially residential noise complaints—are also up, and in some areas, police are cracking down on scofflaws ignoring social distancing rules. #coronaviruscrime, #decreaseincrimecoronavirus,
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