How have the COVID-19 Lock-downs (or stay at home orders) impacted crime?
We provide some initial thoughts in this recent paper (available for free download) but are looking for more insight from front-line practitioners (police, corrections, government leaders, security, health care, and more) across many disciplines. We expect the results to be mixed and data and location dependent. Do you have unique data to share? What insights can you provide? What does this say about the best ways to prevent crime in the future?
See: Article Crime Rates in a Pandemic: the Largest Criminological Experi...
Ben Stickle
I have shared your interesting question on one of the most resourceful COVID-19 threads (with more than 500 followers and many contributors of a RG of more than 100) here on RG, see
https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_is_Coronavirus_or_COVID-19_affecting_you_and_your_community_What_have_you_learned_about_the_virus_What_preventative_measures_are_you_taking
I hope for many meaningful contributions...
During the COVID-19 lockdowns everybody is staying at home. So do criminals (mostly). In particular fraudsters are interested in new fraud shemes.
INTERPOL, EUROPOL and the WHO have literally demasked the doings of organized crime and have issued warnings on COVID-19 fraud.
The landscape of crime and fraud is changing in the light of COVID-19.
The WHO has stated that cyber attacks have increased fivefold.
And the WHO has given evidence of fraud in the name of the WHO...
"We are all in this together" (UN Secretary-General Guiteres) - and so are the criminals (which are part of the society)...
Janet Lane
you add a very interesting point in all of this. We will have an opportunity to really see what happens when we allow low level offenders back into society. COVID has been a mechanism to allow for experimentation that would otherwise not exist.
Carsten Weerth thank you for sharing. I'm eager to see the replies and have already enjoyed the ones thus far. There is no doubt we will continue to see important changes in crimes, specifically when we look at crime types, such as cyber crime in different places and across different times.
In Germany monetary relief is offered by the government fo solo entrepreneurs... and short time workers (60 % of income).
But now investigations are under way over many fraudulent applicatons (by solo entre preneurs and businesses that claim to be in short time work but are not doing it)...
In many countries fake face masks and fake medicines are offered mostly by help of the internet...
Warnigs by the WCO and the WHO and Interpol/Europol have been issued.
And many internet shops emerging are also fake only (requesting payment for goods they promise but never deliver)...
One area which has began to gain media attention at the beginning of the lockdown (but sadly this attention was not sustained) was the issue of domestic violence & its manifold increase during lockdown. In particular, I remember the murder of Dr Lorena Quaranta in Italy, and there were many others throughout Europe and the world - of both non-fatal and fatal domestic violence against women in lockdown, and an area academics should definitely look into further.
Indeed very interesting topic. Maybe my contribution in Urban Violence Research Network's blog is of interest for you:
"In late March 2020, amidst the global crisis caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, organized crime groups began to make headlines as caring social actors in their communities. In Southern Italy, local mafias acted as alternative social welfare-providers by financially supporting businesses that faced bankruptcy caused by Coronavirus-related lockdowns and by providing free groceries to communities. In several Brazilian favelas, gangs and militias took matters into their own hands, spreading information on curfews and other restrictions via social media and patrolling the streets to ensure compliance with the curfew. As the virus spread in those densely populated spaces with limited sanitation facilities, fears of its impact were real. However, Brazil’s right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro denied and ignored the seriousness of the coronavirus, calling it ‘a little cold’ and criticizing measures taken to counter its spread. In such times of crisis, the state’s failure to provide adequate citizen security feeds a popular narrative used by violent non-state actors to mobilize support. That gangs may seize the role of benevolent social actors that take care of their communities might come as a surprise to many, thus making headlines across the world. Yet, this is not a new phenomenon."
Full article: https://urbanviolence.org/why-coronavirus-gives-organized-crime-momentum-to-shine-and-flourish/
