Crime Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Abigail Allen and Emily Backes, Rapporteurs; Committee on Law and Justice; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

From the introduction.The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Law and Justice convened a workshop through its Planning Committee on Crime Rates during the SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 pandemic (hereinafter referred to collectively as “COVID-19” or “COVID-19 pandemic”) on November 10, 2022, to explore crime rate changes during the pandemic, potential explanations for those rates, and opportunities for future methods, data, and research. Specifically, it sought to (1) explore existing data on the trends in multiple criminal offenses during the pandemic; (2) explore existing explanations for the crime rate changes in multiple offense types during the pandemic for their scope, logical consistency, empirical support, and limitations, with special attention to explanations related to the pandemic and associated population restrictions (e.g., stay at home orders, social gathering restrictions, etc.), as well as the diffusion and availability of firearms; and (3) discuss methodological issues, data infrastructure needs, and research gaps to inform understanding of crime problems and rates.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. 9p.