Has COVID-19 Changed Crime? Crime Rates in the United States during the Pandemic
Has COVID-19 Changed Crime? Crime Rates in the United States during the Pandemic
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DOI：
10.1007/s12103-020-09551-3
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发表时间：
2020-07-08
影响因子：
5.6
通讯作者：
Gallupe, Owen
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Boman, John H.;Gallupe, Owen
为应对COVID-19疫情，美国各州政府于2020年3月底前后发布强制性居家令。虽然旨在阻止COVID-19病毒的传播，但封锁对生活产生了最初计划之外的全面影响。这项研究的目的是调查政府对COVID-19的反应对美国犯罪率的影响程度。与2019年大流行前相比，犯罪-以要求执法服务的电话衡量-显着下降。然而，有多种迹象表明，犯罪率的下降是由通常在同龄人群体中犯下的轻微罪行的减少所推动的。与此同时，通常不是与共同犯罪人一起实施的严重犯罪（即杀人和亲密伴侣暴力）要么保持不变，要么有所增加。因此，犯罪率的下降似乎掩盖了一个非常令人不安的趋势，即凶杀案保持不变，亲密伴侣的电池正在增加。由于许多罪犯在非流行性世界中可能会犯下不太严重的罪行，我们提请注意强制性封锁令可能会将未成年罪犯置于亲密伴侣暴力，严重殴打和杀人的猖獗机会的情况下。虽然美国的犯罪率总体上似乎有所下降，但这一好消息不应让我们忽视一个令人不安的共同发生的现实--这一现实描绘了一幅因COVID-19封锁而对公共卫生和刑事司法财政造成意外后果的暗淡图景。
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, state-level governments across the United States issued mandatory stay-at-home orders around the end of March 2020. Though intended to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the lockdowns have had sweeping impacts on life in ways which were not originally planned. This study's purpose is to investigate the extent to which governmental responses to COVID-19 have impacted crime rates in the U.S. Compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, crime - as measured by calls for service to law enforcement - has decreased markedly. However, there are multiple indications that the crime drop is being driven by decreases in minor offenses which are typically committed in peer groups. At the same time, serious crimes which are generally not committed with co-offenders (namely homicide and intimate partner violence) have either remained constant or increased. As such, the crime drop appears to be hiding a very disturbing trend where homicides remain unchanged and intimate partner batteries are increasing. Since many offenders would presumably be committing less serious crimes in a non-pandemic world, we raise attention to the possibility that mandatory lockdown orders may have taken minor offenders and placed them into situations where there is rampant opportunity for intimate partner violence, serious batteries, and homicides. While crime in the U.S. appears to be down overall, this good news should not blind us to a troubling co-occurring reality - a reality that paints a dim picture of unintended consequences to public health and criminal justice finances as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns.