National Post (National Edition)
Crime in a time of COVID-19
HOW THE PANDEMIC IS TRANSFORMING CURRENT TRENDS IN LAW-BREAKING
Anew pattern of neighbourhood crime in the time of COVID-19 is emerging and it looks something like this: fewer traffic violations, less drunk driving, fewer frauds but way more domestic violence, commercial break-ins and stunt driving.
It makes sense.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought sweeping emergency declarations to most of Canada, with limitations on movement, work, recreation and business.
Self-isolation suddenly and fundamentally changed our lifestyles: how we move, where we go, how we work, how we play, who we spend time with and who is watching us.
This has a huge impact on crime.
National Post contacted police forces around the country for information on how COVID-19 is changing neighbourhood crime. For some, the pandemic is ushering in new highs and lows.
“Our radios are usually very busy, dispatchers barking out calls one after another,” said a Toronto police officer, who asked not to be named because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. “Now we sometimes hear an officer asking for a radio check because they think their radio isn’t working.”
York Regional Police, north of Toronto, was quick off the mark with a statistical analysis of crime under COVID.
“The statistics we are seeing make sense with the ways we are living right now,” said Const. Laura Nicolle.
Overall crime reported to York police decreased approximately 13 per cent in March 2020 compared with the same month a year ago.
Among the biggest drops this March, much of which was marked by pandemic response, are routine traffic violations, down 32 per cent, and impaired driving, down 29 per cent.
“We know that with so many things closed and people being urged to stay home, we have far fewer vehicles on our roads, leading to a reduction in traffic offences,” said Nicolle. With bars and restaurants closed to table service, there are fewer opportunities to drive home after drinking.
Frauds are down by 16 per cent and weapons offences down by 13 per cent.
COVID-19, however, is not ushering in an era of peaceful coexistence. Some crimes are sharply up in York.
Less congested roads seems an invitation for speeding: stunt driving, going more than 50 km/h over the limit, revved up 60 per cent.
So many businesses sitting empty remains too tempting a target for criminals who never self-isolate enough: Commercial breakins are up 45 per cent in March. Thefts of vehicles increased 44 per cent.
Even more distressing, domestic complaints have jumped by 22 per cent, covering everything from calls to police over verbal arguments in a home to significant domestic assault.
“Sadly, more time at home with families and significant others results in an increase in calls for domestic related incidents,” said Nicolle.
York’s review paints a broad picture of coronavirus crime trends but it is not uniformly seen across Canada, at least not yet.
Since March 16, Toronto police’s weekly statistics show a decline in all major crime categories — except homicide, which has remained stable.
“This could be attributed to social distancing and self-isolation since most of these crimes are against people (assaults, robbery), but even crimes against property (auto theft, breakand-enters) have dropped,” said Meaghan Gray of Toronto police.
In Edmonton, police have seen an almost 52 per cent increase in mental health calls in March compared to March 2019, said Edmonton Police Service spokesman Scott Pattison.
And “serious” domestic violence is up significantly. There have been 62 per cent more calls for domestic violence, although that is based on a wider time frame, since January, compared to the same period last year.
Ottawa police identified three areas of COVID crime concerns: commercial breakins, domestic abuse and stunt driving.
“Of concern is that victims of domestic abuse are potentially not attending hospitals or clinics for their injuries, and therefore a significant portion of our cases which would normally come from health-care professionals, are going unreported,” said Insp. Jim Elves.
Last week, Ottawa police seized 15 vehicles for stunt driving, eight of them on Friday, including a motorcycle driver pulling wheelies.
Since March 12, Vancouver police are seeing about 10 per cent fewer calls each day, but warn of a jump in commercial break-ins. “It appears thieves are attempting to take advantage of commercial spaces that are closed due to social distancing measures,” said Chief Adam Palmer.
Despite a surge in breakins, overall property crime in Vancouver has dropped 12 per cent compared to the weeks leading up to the pandemic.
Calgary, too, has seen a bump in break-ins. “Break and enters in commercial areas is one area where we’ve seen an increase and have adapted our patrols accordingly,” said Calgary police.
As the pandemic worsens and restrictions continue, things may well shift again, for better or worse. There are fears of an erosion in front line policing when officers are incapacitated by COVID-19.
And not all places in Canada have the same problems.
In Bittern Lake, a village in central Alberta with fewer than 250 residents, the administration office is closed to all foot traffic as a precaution against COVID-19. The post office, perhaps the busiest place around, has been closed for two weeks because the postmaster is sick — but just with a cold, said Jill Tinson, the chief administrative officer.
As for crime trends in Bittern Lake, Tinson said it’s hard to tell because the police officer from a neighbouring community hasn’t been through on patrol lately.
THE STATISTICS WE ARE SEEING MAKE SENSE WITH THE WAYS WE ARE LIVING RIGHT NOW.