As Coronavirus Surges, Crime Declines in Some Cities
Early data show crime reports went down in some cities with coronavirus.
Street cops and police union officials have been predicting a crime wave as cities across the country reduce low-level arrests and release inmates from jails to slow the spread of COVID-19.
But at least in some big cities, that’s not happening. In fact, in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco, recent data show big drops in crime reports, week over week. The declines are even more significant when we compare this year with the same time periods in the three previous years.
The decreases suggest that trying to contain COVID-19 is not a public safety threat in some big cities—at least for
