Gang‐related crime in Los Angeles remained stable following COVID‐19 social distancing orders

Abstract

The onset of extreme social distancing measures is expected to have a dramatic impact on crime. Here, we examine the impact of mandated, city‐wide social distancing orders aimed at limiting the spread of COVID‐19 on gang‐related crime in Los Angeles. We hypothesize that the unique subcultural processes surrounding gangs may supersede calls to shelter in place and allow gang‐related crime to persist. If the normal guardianship of people and property is also disrupted by social distancing, then we expect gang violence to increase. Using autoregressive time series models, we show that gang‐related crime remained stable and crime hot spots largely stationary following the onset of shelter in place.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Apr 20, 2021
Source ID
10.1111/1745-9133.12541

Entities

People

  • George Mohler
  • George Tita
  • P. Jeffrey Brantingham

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis
  • National Science Foundation Division of Mathematical Sciences
  • University of California
  • University of California, Irvine

Tags

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Statistical inference.