Spatial distributive justice and crime in the covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Nationally, small area (LSOAs) were ranked by recorded crime rate and grouped into deciles for May 2020 relative to previous five Mays. Decile rate changes relative to expected from previous five years. Key findings:•Previously high-crime areas saw the largest crime declines. •Previously-low-crime rate areas experienced crime increases. •Urban centres saw the greatest crime drops in absolute (but not necessarily relative) terms. •Public order crime increases likely reflect breaches - or perceived breaches - of lockdown rules. Some crime increases, including drugs and weapon offences, may reflect changes in police activity

Small area variation in crime effects of COVID-19 policies in England and Wales

“…However, further insight could be gained from replicating this analyses for major crime types which we know to have distinct opportunity structures, such as burglary and theft. Here, we would note that the generalized Gini coefficients by crime type (see Appendix) certainly suggest that there may be differences between crime types, as have preliminary findings using decile clusters ( Dixon et al, 2020 ). Secondly, the Open Street Map API used to quantify the prevalence of crime opportunities in each cluster is imperfect.…”

“…In England and Wales, early descriptive evidence from the first three months of lockdown suggests that previously high-crime areas may have experienced the steepest relative declines compared to previous years ( Dixon, Halford, & Farrell, 2020 ). Increases in fly-tipping have also been linked to a small number of councils, with trends varying considerably between regions ( Dixon & Tlley, 2020 ).…”