Pandemic Crime Wave: Causes and Responses
New Wave of Violence Triggers Political and Police Turmoil

5 takeaways:

Homicides have spiked during the pandemic, but not burglaries. Thomas Abt, director of the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, has documented the uneven surge in U.S. crime. In the first quarter of 2021, homicides in cities were 24% higher than in the first quarter of 2020 and 49% higher than in the first quarter of 2019. (Crime is seasonal, so it’s important that journalists cite comparable statistics from the same period in previous years.) Aggravated assaults and gun assaults were also up. But Abt cautions reporters to caveat those statistics: Other types of crime — drugs, property — were down. And homicide rates are still well below those during the 1990s.

Things will likely get worse before they get better. The spike in homicide stems from a range of factors, including the pandemic, social unrest caused by police violence and increased gun sales. It’s also widespread — not just in the nation’s biggest cities but also mid-sized cities such as Omaha, Nebraska, and Buffalo, New York. While homicides have declined in the first quarter of 2021 from their pandemic peak, that’s a cyclical trend criminologists have long observed. Summer tends to bring a rise in violent crime. “I think this will be a rough year,” Abt said.

Domestic violence also increased during the pandemic, fueled by lockdown orders. COVID restrictions often forced people to share tight quarters with spouses or domestic partners prone to violence. In the early months of the pandemic, Alex Piquero, a professor at the University of Miami, wrote, “COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the lives of persons around the world and social scientists are just beginning to understand its consequences on human behavior.” What they’ve since discovered is that the forced confinement contributed to an increase in domestic violence — a phenomenon seen in different cities, states and countries.

Curbing violence requires new policing and public health strategies. Thinking of crime as more than a policing issue can help stop the cycle of violence that disproportionately affects Black and brown communities across the U.S., according to Fatimah Loren Dreier, executive director of Health Alliance for Violence Intervention. A “community violence intervention” strategy employs outreach, peacemaker fellowships, hospital-based intervention programs and other approaches to connect with those caught up in the cycle of violence. People reached through such programs are less likely to show up again in hospital emergency departments, Dreier said.

➄ Language matters — and reporters need to take care in how they use it. Using “urban communities” as shorthand for neighborhoods where crime disproportionately takes place is a crutch, Dreier said. Likewise, reporters should avoid stigmatizing entire areas by calling them “crime infested” and instead use “communities impacted by violence.” Words like “thugs,” “gangs” or “ex-convicts” should be replaced with terms such as “group-involved” or “formerly incarcerated,” she said. And avoid referring to “innocent victims.” “All victims are worthy of care,” Dreier said. “There are no underserving victims.”

Speakers:

Thomas Abt, Director, National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice; Senior Fellow, Council on Criminal Justice

Fatimah Loren Dreier, Executive Director, Health Alliance for Violence Intervention

Alexis Piquero, Professor and Chair of Sociology, University of Miami

This program is funded by Arnold Ventures. NPF is solely responsible for the content.

Fatimah Loren Dreier
Executive Director, Health Alliance for Violence Intervention
Thomas Abt
Chair, Violent Crime Working Group, Council on Criminal Justice
Alexis Piquero
Professor and Chair of Sociology, University of Miami
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