As more people stay home to avoid spreading or catching the coronavirus, police say they expect to see changes to crime rates. However, with less than a month of data to analyze since governments began to urge people to stay home, police say it’s still too soon to tell what kind of trends may emerge.
Even so, a comparison of crime reports from last month and March 2019 show some clear differences.
Domestic violence, for example, has seen about a 22% increase, although reports of child abuse have dropped by about 25%.
Auto crimes – thefts of cars and of items from cars – have seen a 29% increase. And robbery has seen a 45% increase.
Meanwhile, shots fired calls have gone up by about 52%.