"People have reacted to the pandemic in all sorts of
ways in decreasing economic activity," Abrams says. "They stopped
going to work, they stopped driving their car. They stopped walking around the
city, and crime also stopped."
Baltimore, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Chicago all have
witnessed a drop of more than 30%. Violent crimes such as aggravated assaults
and robberies also fell substantially.
That wasn't true of homicides and shootings though. In some cities,
there's a troubling rise compared with last year.
Shauntavius Sims, 35, lives in a Chicago neighborhood that
has been plagued by gun violence. That reality makes the news of an overall
drop in the crime rate irrelevant.
"Seem like it got worser to me. Just yesterday, I saw
it behind my house," Sims says, as the sounds of firecrackers — not guns —
filled the air. "Some boys just came and shot while me and my baby was in
the back. Like every day, it's constantly on the news. Every day, it's
something."
There has been a surge of homicides over recent violent
weekends, and several children have been shooting victims. It's that type of
tragic crime news in Chicago and other cities such as Houston, Cincinnati and
Fresno, Calif., that's gotten the most attention.
Even though the numbers are tragic, Abrams says it's
difficult to determine any trend in murder or other crimes over a short time
span. He says for a more accurate statistical count it takes comparing what
takes place from year to year over a longer period of time.
"When you look at the homicide data and compare it to
levels over the past five years," he says, "we didn't see any
significant impact because of the pandemic."
Even so, University of Chicago professor Jens Ludwig, the
head of the university's Crime Lab, says it's a big puzzle why shootings and
murders haven't dropped while other crimes have.
"Murders make up far less than 1% of the crimes in
these cities," Ludwig says, "but murder is so damaging to families
and communities, and I don't think we have a great understanding of why
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot agrees it is complicated. She
says in some ways the pandemic created the perfect storm by compelling people
to stay inside, but it also stymied the normal operations of jails and courts.
More people intent on causing harm may be out on the streets instead of in the
criminal justice system. She adds the underlying causes of violence are also
factors.
"That's poverty, lack of hope, despair, not enough
access to the things that build healthy and strong families and
communities," Lightfoot says. "And we have way too many guns on the
street."
There's more positive news when it comes to drug crimes.
They plummeted by more than 60% compared with previous years, according to
Abrams' website.
Arizona State University criminologist Ojmarrh Mitchell says
there are several reasons why.
"First, drug crimes are measured by arrests, not
citizen reports to police," Mitchell says. "During a pandemic, police
aren't necessarily employing the pro-active police tactics and practices that
typically result in discovering drugs."
The pandemic seems to be driving a lot of the reduction in
crime, including home burglaries. But in commercial spaces, there's been a bump
in burglaries, up by almost 30% on average across the cities examined.
Abrams says there was also a dramatic jump in car theft in
Philadelphia, with increases as well in Denver, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas.
Baltimore was the only city that saw a substantial decline.
"So if people are leaving cars on the street, they have
no need to use them," he says. "They aren't checking on them as
frequently. There's also just less foot traffic around and fewer people to
observe. I think that makes for more attractive targets for would-be
thieves."
Those targets and any COVID-19 impact on crime will likely change
altogether as more cities try to reopen their economies and people again adjust
their lives.
To read more CLICK HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment