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Six Months In: Pandemic Crime Trends in England and Wales

Author

Listed:
  • Langton, Samuel
  • Farrell, Graham

    (University of Leeds)

  • Dixon, Anthony

Abstract

Governments around the world have enforced strict guidelines on social interaction and mobility in an effort to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Evidence has begun to emerge which suggests that such dramatic changes in people’s routine activities have yielded similarly dramatic changes in criminal behavior. This study represents the first ‘look back’ on six months of the nationwide lockdown in England and Wales. Using open police-recorded crime trends, we provide a comparison between expected and observed crime rates for fourteen different offence categories between March and August, 2020. We find that most crime types experienced sharp, short-term declines during the first full month of lockdown. This was followed by a gradual resurgence as restrictions were relaxed. Major exceptions include antisocial behavior and drug crimes. Findings shed light on the opportunity structures for crime and the nuances of using police records to study crime during the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Langton, Samuel & Farrell, Graham & Dixon, Anthony, 2020. "Six Months In: Pandemic Crime Trends in England and Wales," SocArXiv t7ne8, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:t7ne8
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/t7ne8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Carlos Díaz & Sebastian Fossati & Nicolás Trajtenberg, 2022. "Stay at home if you can: COVID‐19 stay‐at‐home guidelines and local crime," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), pages 1067-1113, December.
    2. Payne, Jason Leslie & Langfield, Cameron Thomas, 2021. "Drug offence detection during the COVID-19 lockdown: a spatiotemporal study of change in a street-level drug market," SocArXiv 2x53n, Center for Open Science.
    3. Dixon, Anthony & Farrell, Graham & Tilley, Nick, 2022. "Illegal waste fly-tipping in the COVID-19 pandemic: Enhanced compliance, temporal displacement and urban-rural variation," SocArXiv df5ue, Center for Open Science.

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