Background on Stay-at-home orders
In March of 2020, various restrictions were implemented in populated cities ie., Los Angeles in order to reduce the spread of Covid-19. On March 19th of that year, Los Angeles County mandated the “Safer at Home” order, which aimed to keep people at home except for essential activities. In the case of Los Angeles, several establishments were to close and to keep gatherings to family households. This caused for non-essential businesses like restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theaters, concert venues, etc. that would normally allow large amounts of people to come in contact, to close for an unforeseeable future. And in the cases leaving your homes to essential establishments, face coverings must be worn in public and to interact with individuals and to keep a distance of six feet. Spaces like elevators and other small encountered spaces were to be reduced to accommodate to these restrictions in place. These mandates were fluctuated greatly during 2020, stating these mandates were to help “flatten the curve” of the pandemic. These campaigns aimed to emphasize how essential it is to follow precautions to slow down Covid-19. With Los Angeles housing close to 3.8 million people, it was extremely difficult to reduce the number of cases on a daily basis. At various times during the pandemic, cases surged, hospitals were overwhelmed, and mortality rates rose. With hospitals over demand in a large city, it would become an extremely difficult facet to overcome high cases and reopen non-essential establishments.
Crime Trends
With the escalation of Covid in Los Angeles, the question arises: How did crime trends change during Covid? With stay at home order and more police vigilant at the time of George Floyd’s murder, one wonders if crime rates decreased as a result. A study assesses this question, crime rates within the period of stay-at-home mandates, the context of economic conditions, and political turmoil at the time later discussed in this project. In this, scholars discover that during the first few months of mandated orders, property crimes are reduced greatly (Kubrin 2021). Though there were not many notable changes in violent crime cases, there was a specific increase internet search‐based domestic violence, noting that more people were looking this up in a time period where people were suggested to stay-at-home. There is no concrete evidence as to what the causes may have been. In the cases of property crime, it is likely due to increased police activity as well as the mandated stay-at-home orders causing fewer opportunities for these specific crimes. In the cases of domestic violence, it could be due to a variety of factors, later discussed in depth. Though within the visualization above, one can note the rapid decrease in crimes committed within the first few months of the stay-at-home order, that continues to stabilize until 2021. Since then, the amount of crimes has going up steadily. In another study, scholars research the trends of gang-related crime under these same stay-at-home orders (Brantingham 2021). In these more specified violent crimes, the rate remains steady. While crimes in general lessened, many more specific crimes continue to have the same rates if not increased throughout this period of economic and political hardships.
