Table 1 Literature summary of studies
From: Six months in: pandemic crime trends in England and Wales
Author(s) | Study area(s) | Crime or incident type | Key findings |
|---|---|---|---|
Ashby (2020b) | Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Minneapolis, Montgomery County, Nashville, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Tucson, Washington DC | Serious assault (public and residential), burglary (residential and non-residential), theft of vehicles, theft from vehicles | No change in serious assaults (public or residences), some reduction in residential burglary, widespread decline in theft, some variation between cities |
Ashby (2020a) | Baltimore, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, Sonoma County, St Petersburg | Calls for service for assault, burglary, dead body, disturbance, domestic violence/family dispute, driving while impaired, drugs, intruder alarm, medical emergency, mental health/concern for safety, missing person, robbery, shooting/shots fired, suspicious person/vehicle, traffic collision, traffic stop, trespassing, vehicle theft | Overall decline in calls for service following stay at home orders, but with some variation. Complex trends (spikes and sudden falls) evident in many cities |
Buil-Gil et al. (2020b) | England, Wales, Northern Ireland | Cybercrime (computer virus, malware, spyware, denial of service, hacking, online fraud) | Cyber-dependent crimes increase for individual victims, but largely decrease for organizations. Increase in online shopping fraud for individuals and organizations |
Bullinger et al. (2020) | Chicago | Domestic violence crimes and calls for service | Calls for service related to domestic violence increased, especially among blocks spending the most time at home. Decrease in reported domestic crimes and arrests |
Campedelli et al. (2020) | Los Angeles | Assault with deadly weapon, battery, burglary, intimate partner assault, robbery, shoplifting, theft, homicides, stolen vehicle | Decline in robbery, shoplifting, theft, battery and overall crime. No change in assault with a deadly weapon, homicides, burglary, intimate partner assault or stolen vehicles |
Felson et al. (2020) | Detroit | Burglary (residential and commercial) | Burglary shifted away from residential areas towards mixed-use (including non-residential) areas |
Gerell et al. (2020) | Sweden | Outdoors assault, personal robberies, indoors assault, residential burglary, non-residential burglary, pickpocketing, narcotics crime, vandalism | Decline in overall crimes, assaults (indoor and outdoor), burglary (residential and commercial), pickpocketing, theft. No apparent change in narcotics crimes and personal robberies. Increase in vandalism |
Halford et al. (2020) | England, Wales | Shoplifting, other theft, domestic abuse, theft from vehicle, assault, burglary (dwelling and non-dwelling), vehicle theft | Decline in shoplifting, theft, domestic abuse, theft from vehicle, assault, burglary (residential and non-residential). Evidence of relationship between crime changes and mobility |
Hawdon et al. (2020) | United States | Cybercrime | No major change in cyber-routines or cybervictimization |
Hodgkinson et al. (2020) | Vancouver | Burglary (residential and commercial), theft of vehicle, theft from vehicle, theft, violence, mischief | Decrease in total crime, commercial burglary (subsequent increase), theft, theft from vehicles. No clear change in violence, mischief or residential burglary |
Mohler et al. (2020) | Los Angeles, Indianapolis | Calls for service for burglary, assault-battery, vehicle theft, domestic violence, vandalism, traffic stops | Some decrease in burglary, robbery. Major decline in traffic stops. Increase in vehicle crimes and domestic violence. Some evidence of relationship with mobility, but many changes marginal |
Payne and Morgan (2020a) | Queensland | Common assault, serious assault, sexual offences, domestic violence order breaches | No clear deviation from historical trends |
Payne and Morgan (2020b) | Queensland | Property damage, shop theft, other theft, burglary, fraud, motor vehicle theft | Decline in shop theft, other theft and credit card fraud. No change for property damage, burglary or vehicle theft |
Piquero et al. (2020) | Dallas | Domestic violence | Short-term spike in domestic violence |
Shayegh and Malpede (2020) | San Francisco, Oakland | Theft, homicide, traffic incidents, domestic violence | Decline in overall crime, theft, homicide, traffic incidents. No decline in domestic violence |