How the pandemic has shaped crime and policing

With many people stuck at home during the pandemic, the landscape of criminal behaviour has changed. Domestic abuse and online crime have become more widespread, while violent crime has gone down. Police and other emergency services have had to shift their focus as a result.

In 2020, 5.6 million crimes were recorded in England and Wales, an 8% decrease from the previous year. This is according to figures recently released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS notes that changes to how crimes are recorded means the data do not provide reliable year-on-year trends. However, they do find that fluctuations throughout the year can be attributed to the introduction and subsequent easing of lockdown restrictions.

The biggest drops occurred in robbery and theft offences. While fraud and computer misuse spiked during the summer and fall of 2020.

Domestic abuse

The number of domestic abuse cases has risen since the start of the pandemic. From March to June 2020, 259,324 domestic abuse offences were recorded by the police. A 7% increase over the previous year.

However, the ONS warns that since such offences gradually rose in recent years, it cannot be determined that the increase is related to the pandemic.

Domestic abuse is notoriously difficult to track. For one, it is a not a specific criminal offence. Which means that statisticians rely on police to flag incidents they consider to be related to domestic abuse.

It is also a hidden crime, that often goes unreported. Therefore police data can only provide a partial picture.

Data from the National Domestic Abuse Helpline suggests that lockdown restrictions had an even bigger effect. In June of last year, it reported receiving 80% more calls than usual. Most were from women seeking help.

The figures from Refuge, the charity running the helpline, also showed that more people needed to flee their abusers.

“We’ve seen in the last couple of weeks an increase of 54% of women wanting to access emergency accommodation,” a spokeswoman told the BBC.

Some domestic abuse services have even had to introduce waiting lists. In at least one case, this led to an avoidable death, after a victim looking for a way out was told there wasn’t enough space in any refuges.

New legislation

A new Domestic Abuse Bill, introduced last year, promises to improve the effectiveness of the justice system to protect victims of domestic abuse.

One of the key components of the bill is to create “a statutory definition of domestic abuse, emphasising that domestic abuse is not just physical violence, but can also be emotional, controlling or coercive, and economic abuse.”

In anticipation of the bill becoming law, £125 million has been allocated to councils to support victims and their children.The money will come with a new duty for councils to provide life-saving support and safe accommodation where needed.

“Domestic abuse is an abhorrent crime perpetrated on victims and their families by those who should love and care for them. This landmark Bill will help transform the response to domestic abuse, helping to prevent offending, protect victims and ensure they have the support they need,” says Victoria Atkins MP, Minister for Safeguarding.

Violent crime

A study conducted by researchers at Cardiff university found a “rapid and sustained” fall in violence outside the home in the Welsh capital.

Instead of relying on police data, they examined visits to the city’s only emergency department — at the University Hospital of Wales — for violence related injuries.

Their model found statistically significant changes during lockdown, while also accounting for seasonal changes in the number of attendances. Visits related to violent injury sustained outside the home dropped by 60% in the first lockdown.

The researchers acknowledge that fears about catching Covid-19 may have affected the number of emergency department visits, but say this is unlikely to have affected the overall findings.

Assaults on emergency workers

Where violent crime in general may have fallen, violence against emergency workers has increased during the pandemic.

According to the latest figures from the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC), there was a 26% increase in assaults on emergency workers during the 4-week period ending April 11 2021, compared to the same period in 2019.

The report states that “the rise is thought to be driven by increases in common assaults on police officers, including suspects spitting on officers while claiming to be infected with Covid-19.”

John Apter, the National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, has responded to the figures, calling the violence against frontline workers “a stain on society” that “needs to be dealt with robustly”.

“This increased level of violence is not just a one off. It is becoming the new norm which is completely unacceptable. Violence in our society is not just a policing issue, all parts of Government and society itself must work together to combat this alarming increase.”

Apter advocates for judges and magistrates to use newly introduced sentencing guidelines to set an example. “Those responsible must spend time in prison,” he says.

After the pandemic

The economic downturn during the pandemic is likely to shape the landscape of criminal behaviour even as the rest of society slowly returns to normal.

Former West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson warned that the added strain from Covid-19 on youth services, mental health providers and programmes for those leaving prison could exacerbate existing problems.

In his annual report for 2019/20 he said: “We risk losing a generation of young people to criminality if we don’t make rebuilding society and the economy our top priority.”

According to Jamieson, “West Midlands police is increasingly becoming the first point of contact,” due to budget cuts to other services.

“With fewer resources across the force, this is adding a great deal of strain as our officers deal with more complex issues, particularly in the mental health space.”

Simon Foster, who has since been elected as the new Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, has pledged to put 450 extra officers on the street, as one of his first acts in office. He also promised to make violence against women and girls a top priority, and to invest in youth services and support through schools to prevent knife crime.