Re-Examining Trends of Crime Amidst Force Majeure

The Author & Co-Author of this blog is Mr. Kabir Jaiswal and Mr. Astutya Prakhar from NUSRL who are pursuing BA LLB and are in 5th and 2nd Semester respectively. 

With many small establishments being closed and a substantial majority of the population being forced to take days off to counter the coronavirus, (in several regards) the crime rate is skyrocketing and diminishing. When more individuals will lose their employment over the coronavirus pandemic and be required to live at home, a concern crops up: Would more individuals break the law?

India

The coronavirus epidemic and resulting lockdown in the Kolhapur area have contributed to a decline in crime incidence. Per day roughly 12 to 15 incidents are reported with the different police stations in the city, as per the police department. Furthermore, on the day of Junta curfew, just three cases were reported. Bengaluru's authorities believe that the shutdown following COVID-19 has wiped out daily crime suspects and criminals, quoting statistics showing a drop in almost all the categories. Chain-snatching, mugging, burglary, vehicle-lifting and assault are the typical realm of criminals, but such offences have dropped significantly over the past weeks as police officers report. Theft of cars, too, has dropped significantly from 432 in March 2019 to 249. Vehicle lifters fail to find prospective customers. Stolen cars are normally phased out instantly. But now owners of these cars, anticipating COVID-19, have stayed indoors. That is the primary factor the car robberies decline. Secondly, there are also cars looted from parking areas and these areas are still pretty nearly desolate. There is a dearth of revenue during this lockout for these offenders. COVID-19 had a strong southerly impact. With the people sedentary on the couch and strong police patrols on the street, the rate of crime in the area has dropped. We think the explanation is when people stay home then robbers have minimal likelihood of attacking dwellings. Police's continued vigilance has also strengthened. In Andhra Pradesh, the crime rate is witnessing a steady decline. COVID-19 is beyond question one of the worst viruses the civilization has ever witnessed, which threatens to adversely impact people's lives and livelihoods throughout the planet. Uttar Pradesh police also introduced domestic abuse helpline with reports increasing. UP has one of the poorest histories on violence targeting women in the nation. “Suppress corona, not your voice,” said a newspaper ad on the front. COVID-19 brings relief to the people as well as the police from the ‘seasonal’ crime across the nation. According to the officials of the State Police, the crime rate trend has experienced a steady decline in Hyderabad as well as the rest of the State over the last few weeks. Many families also remain indoors because of the virus risk. It is also the explanation of why groups involved in locked house robbery are not prominent. We have a strong reason to believe that the members of these gangs are frightened of coronavirus and are not committing any offences. Suspecting the Coronavirus outbreak, these inter-state gangs appear to have put their preparations on hold. These offenders also tend to be worried about catching the illness. Corona terror is the only solution to stay safe from these perpetrators.

Lockdowns around the world are giving upsurge due to domestic violence. Women and children who are getting victimized due to the abuses and domestic violence have no escape from the violence during quarantine, and from Brazil to Germany, Italy to China, activists, and survivors have confirmed that they have started seeing a distressing surge in the abuses.

USA
The very first weeks of the pandemic sparked a double-digit decline in violence in the nation's largest city. Spring is usually a phase for crime because the mild weather attracts out far more individuals. But the cases COVID-19 has walloped New York harder than any other place in the United States seem to have kept many malefactors inside their premises. With too many people living together, burglaries may also see a dramatic decrease, as most residential burglaries take place daytime. In reality, recent statistics indicate major declines in crime reporting in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles & San Francisco, week after week. The drops are even higher as we equate this year with periods spans of the preceding three years. The unexpected decrease in crime is undoubtedly connected with the rising amount of resident-at-home mandates currently affecting a lot of Americans. Many individuals are taking shelter in place, prospective offences are diminishing. Thefts fell to 231 cases that week by 60 percent. Police in San Francisco stated they're concentrating on preventing crime away from closed store fronts, and sending cops out patrolling. With less number of people out there in public, there are probabilities for closed businesses to be victimize by smash and grab type crimes. The Marshall Project’s analysis found a 13% drop in crime. Crime reports for the week of March 22 in Los Angeles & Detroit indicate parallel downside patterns. Both towns recorded declines of about 20 per percent. In Cincinnati, there has been having dropped property-related crime and 41% decrement in rape crime. Crime falls drastically in March due to coronavirus restrictions. Crime in  Los Angeles dropped sharply in March as the city foisted new sterned rules and regulations on residents and businesses to slow down the spread of coronavirus. As per statistics from the LA Police Department, violent crimes in the region fell 14 percent, and property crime decreased 12 percent over March 25 relative to the same time last year. Previously this month it had announced single-digit declines.

ChinaIn Hubei province, which turned out to be the heart of the commencement of coronavirus outbreak, which gave a descriptive report on domestic violence to the police, which was more than tripled number of cases in one country alone at the time of the lockdown happening in February, which raised the numbers from 47 last year to 162 this year. The epidemic had an adverse impact on domestic violence. Following the statistics in this ongoing situation, 90% of the causes of violence are related to the COVID-19 epidemic. Police in several areas of China has been unwillingly hesitant to give a hand to the survivors, especially during this epidemic. While everyone is concentrating on this epidemic, the sufferers of domestic violence are very much being untended. Police should be more proactive in registering victim's whinges rather than making excuses not to help them. If they use the epidemic as an excuse not to deal with domestic violence cases, then that’s condemnable. Live-streamed workshops are being organized where it is shared, what an individual can do when they witness or become aware of domestic violence. It’s imperative to let domestic violence survivors know their rights and as a witness, we should give them the required confidence and support.

Spain
In Spain, where the lockdown rules are superlatively stern and citizens are being fined for breaking them, the government confirmed that women won’t be penalized if they left their homes to report abuse. But on the 19th march, the nation perceived first domestic violence fatality since the lockdown. The growing threat to women and children have now become a peril and was a foreseeable side effect of this coronavirus lockdown pattern which recurrent most often in times of emergencies, whether it's a conflict happening, economic crisis or during the times of natural calamity, even though the quarantine rules constitute an explicitly grave challenge. It happens in all catastrophic situations. What we worry about is just as rates of violence is increasing by each passing day, the approachability of services, and the capability of women to access these services will decrease. This is the main challenge.

Concluding Remarks

The patterns on violence are weakening as the COVID-19 situation progresses internationally. Environmental change and infectious disease are not solutions for avoiding abuse. We assume that the crime potential decreases, but the crime motive increases. A spike in the percentage of people who are laid off is traumatic not only for many households but also it can result in a higher crime rate. The shutdown does not decelerate the murders that have been brought on by widespread poverty. This would be no surprise to see a surge in domestic violence incidents. Some try to sway it in whatever circumstances. It is possibly due to the rise in social distancing & self-isolation as coronavirus spread continued to escalate. In Corona times there is also a downside to the crimes because there is no reduction in cybercrime. Internet and telephone fraud are on the upswing. The outbreak will result in people exploiting the crisis and using scams linked to coronavirus. Especially, there is still a criminal activity that goes unnoticed, but we've had a considerable decline in crimes all in all. Eventually, we'd say that the entire situation is quite complex dependent on too many wild cards.