OAKLAND (KPIX 5) — With most people staying home during the shelter-in-place, police departments in the Bay Area’s largest cities are reporting significant declines in violent crime.

The shelter-in-place order first went into effect on March 17 for most of the region’s cities. Three weeks later, Oakland reported 238 violent crimes including 4 homicides, down 26% from the same time last year when the city saw 300 violent crimes with 7 homicides.

San Francisco police reported a similar decline. According to SFPD Police Chief Bill Scott, violent crime declined by about 27% in the first two weeks of the shelter-in-place.

The drop is even more drastic in San Jose. Violent crimes were down 45% in the first week that people stayed at home, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.

UC Berkeley law professor Franklin Zimring calls the lower crime numbers a “nice bonus” from social isolation. The crime and justice expert says fewer people being outside means fewer opportunities for conflicts.

“Most violent crime is the byproduct of social interactions, but more particularly social interactions between men,” Zimring said.

Criminologists say police departments are also reducing arrests for low-level offenses because jails are releasing non-violent offenders to prevent outbreaks of COVID-19 throughout the prison system.

Police chiefs also want to protect their officers from coming in contact with too many people to avoid any chance of infection.

“One of the silver linings in this whole thing is that traffic is very light, so our response time has really gotten much, much better,” SFPD chief Scott said.

But with more people confined to their homes, domestic violence and child abuse cases have reportedly gone up in some Bay Area cities. Authorities are urging victims to speak up so they can help them.

Both San Francisco and San Jose also saw declines in property crimes following the stay-at-home order. Oakland, however, saw large jumps in burglaries and car thefts.