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2020 And Crime – How Do People Behave During The Pandemic?

by Louise W. Rice
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We are currently living through a pandemic. Soon enough, we’ll have to undergo the second forced quarantine of our lives, where we have to limit the time we spend outside. 

While most citizens will respect such rules, stay inside, wear protective equipment, and the rest, some will regard this as an ideal situation for crime and felonies. Naturally, we’re not talking about felonies such as social gatherings or situations that could require the assistance of Portland personal injury attorneys

We refer to theft and violent crime. Here’s how people behave during the pandemic from a criminal standpoint.

Crime Stats and Trends

Long story short, it seems that there’s more crime during the pandemic compared to previous, healthy years. In reading and explaining these statistics, we’ll also do our best to ignore the riots across the US as they were, more or less, isolated events. 

  • The first half of 2020 was, according to statistics, 15% more dangerous in terms of non-negligent homicide.
  • However, a more in-depth study showed that roughly 30 major cities in the US saw a spike of 53% in the rate of homicides.
  • Last but not least, the first ten months of 2020 had almost as much crime as the entire year of 2019, with roughly 14,000 murders. 

On the other hand, sexual assault, rape, and robberies have decreased throughout 2020. The pandemic’s year experienced 18% fewer cases of sexual assault and 7% of robberies. 

Property Crime Stats and Trends

Just as robberies and sexual assault, property crime decreased throughout the year – with around 8% across the US. Not the same can be said about car break-ins and vehicle theft, which saw a rise of around 6%.

States like Denver and New York have broken the records in terms of vehicles stolen in 2020’s pandemic. Special crime incidents such as arson have seen a 19% spike this year, concerning the authorities. 

Overall Situation

Vile people have certainly taken advantage of the current situation. For example, Portland’s authorities reported that the first stay-at-home order came with a spike in burglary arrests. At the same time, Portland experienced 25% more shootings compared to 2019. 

Almost all of the US states saw a minor dip in crime around the first obligatory quarantine. However, it didn’t last because felons soon saw a chance and took it – hence the massive coverage of looting and such throughout the US. 

Special Mentions

The pandemic is also the reason why certain types of crime are becoming more popular. Cybercrime and digital fraud saw an increase in 2020 as more and more businesses moved online – not to mention the popularity of cryptocurrency.

This mainly happened because people were asked to work from home where security is not as good as in a company’s headquarters. Hundreds of millions of dollars in damages were reported.

The Bottom Line

Without any doubt, people don’t seem to behave themselves during the pandemic. Even if the information above covered mostly the US, it is safe to say that the same situation can also be noticed in other countries.

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