COVID-19

Our Correction for "When Police Pull Back"

BOTTOM LINE: Yes, there was a merge error in our research note, “When Police Pull Back”. However, correcting it did not render all our key findings nonsignificant as Jacob Kang-Brown claimed. In his replication, Jacob calculated our spatial lag variable differently, thereby reintroducing the endogeneity problem we designed our analysis to avoid. We are correcting, not retracting, the research note. What happened? We made an honest mistake. We own that.

When police pull back: Neighborhood-level effects of de-policing on violent and property crime

Many U.S. cities witnessed both de-policing and increased crime in 2020, yet it remains unclear whether the former contributed to the latter. Indeed, much of what is known about the effects of proactive policing on crime comes from studies that …

Comparing 911 and emergency hotline calls for domestic violence in seven cities: What happened when people started staying home due to COVID-19?

We examine the effect of COVID-19 on domestic violence, as measured by daily calls to 911 and Victim Service Agencies’ emergency hotlines.

Domestic Violence Help-Seeking During COVID-19

Summary Study after study has shown that help-seeking for domestic violence increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. My colleague, Tara Richards (Faculty Lead for SCCJ’s Victimology and Victim Studies Research Lab), was quick to observe that all of the research to date has relied on official data (e.g., calls for police service, reported crimes). Research has yet to consider whether victim service agency hotlines experienced an uptick in calls during COVID-19.

Understanding Denver’s devastating rise in violent crime in 2020

We argue that Denver’s 2020 crime spike was likely the result of a police legitimacy crisis.

The immediate and long-term effects of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders on domestic violence calls for service across six U.S. jurisdictions

In 5 of 6 jurisdictions, domestic violence calls for police service spiked during stay-at-home orders

What Does the Public Want Police to Do During Pandemics? A National Experiment

**Research Summary**: We administered a survey experiment to a national sample of 1,068 US adults in April 2020 to determine the factors that shape support for various policing tactics in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents were sharply …

NYC Shootings, Revisited

In my last post, I pointed out that shootings weren’t occurring less frequently in NYC in 2020 than in prior years, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. I was also careful not to jump to the conclusion that shootings had increased significantly. That was June 3rd. Suffice it to say a lot has happened since then - including 624 additional shootings. Each of the last four years, NYC had fewer than 200 shootings from June to July.

No Significant Decline in NYC Shootings Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

On March 1, 2020, New York City reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19. Eleven days later, Mayor de Blasio declared a state of emergency. By mid-March, the most populous city in America had essentially shut down. Schools, libraries, gyms, theaters, churches and nightclubs closed. Major sporting events and concerts were cancelled. Restaurants were limited to take-out and delivery only. Non-essential gatherings of any size were prohibited, and New Yorkers were ordered to “shelter in place.