by

Highlights

For the moment, crime during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) seems moderate. Law enforcement agencies throughout the world, however, are expressing concern.

“Criminals are just interested in one question: ‘how can I make more money?’, ” Europol director Catherine De Bolle told AFP in an interview.

Mexico: When the social isolation ends, violence will undoubtedly return,” Hope said, Mexico-InternationalBusinessTimes.

UK: The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) have said there have been thefts of oxygen canisters from hospitals and raids on food banks. Gangs have been targeting older people at home…

International: The world’s drug supply chain disruption will have an impact on street level addicted offenders. Prisons are erupting. Fraud is exploding.

Author

Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.

Retired federal senior spokesperson. Thirty-five years of award-winning public relations for national and state criminal justice agencies. Interviewed multiple times by every national news outlet. Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for the Department of Justice’s clearinghouse. Former Director of Information Services, National Crime Prevention Council. Former Adjunct Associate Professor of criminology and public affairs-University of Maryland, University College. Former advisor to presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. Former advisor to the “McGruff-Take a Bite Out of Crime” national media campaign. Certificate of Advanced Study-Johns Hopkins University. Aspiring drummer.

Facebook Quote

It’s not the Coronavirus that’s scary. It’s how brainwashed & easily manipulated the masses of people can become!

We are dealing with two contagions — the virus itself and the emotions it generates.

Article

Every police administrator in the country and beyond is pondering an appropriate response to the Coronavirus. Crime is moderate “at the moment” for many cities.

Concern is being expressed regarding the potential for violence, extremism, fraud, domestic violence, property crime, retail burglary and theft.

What’s below is an overview of national and international crime and criminal justice responses.

For Now, Crime Isn’t Going Up In Most Cities

Reports from around the country (and the world) indicate that crime isn’t going up: Dallas, Portland OR, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco, Southern California, Bangor ME, New Mexico, Business Insider (Crime down in NY and LA but crime up in Chicago), Georiga

Fewer people on the streets could mean less crime and disorder, New York Post.

The sheriff’s office says that limited exposure led to a drop in crime, Santa Clara County, CA

From The Crime Report, Serious crimes in New York City were down last week compared with a year ago, except for a 50 percent increase in car thefts. In Chicago, both violent and property crime are slightly below normal levels. In Dallas, violent and property crimes fell last week compared with the previous week. Police chiefs are directing officers not to arrest people for minor offenses and instead cite and release them, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Journal states that arrests are down in cities throughout the country.

But There Is Concern Throughout The World

“A quarantine, with strict restraining measures, would result in fewer people in the streets, hence fewer robberies, probably fewer murders and burglaries; but when the social isolation ends, violence will undoubtedly return,” Hope said, Mexico-InternationalBusinessTimes.

Crime is up in St. Louis, KSDK. There are reports of rising violence in Chicago (newspaper accounts differ).

Police in New York and Los Angeles fear retail burglaries, TMZ. Same for Vancouver, Vancouver Sun.

There are still more people dying in Baltimore from gunshot wounds than the coronavirus pandemic, a trend that “social distancing” hasn’t slowed down very much. It’s gotten so bad that the mayor felt compelled to beg the gangs to stop shooting people so they can save hospital beds for the COVID-19 patients.

As Baltimore City leaders help combat the coronavirus, there’s concern over another crisis that appears to have a grip on the city – crime. The gun violence is being called an epidemic amid a pandemic, with the elderly most at risk, FoxBaltimore.

With billions of people under lockdown in their homes and borders shut, police chiefs say criminals are finding it hard to make money out of “traditional” activities like burglary and drug smuggling. Instead they are preying on people’s fears of the COVID-19 pandemic to sell them substandard protective goods or trick people out of their cash online, warned Europe’s police agency Europol.

“Criminals are just interested in one question: ‘how can I make more money?’,” Europol director Catherine De Bolle told AFP in an interview, International Business Times.

There are endless media reports of citizens buying guns and ammunition. People are uncertain as to what’s happening. Uncertainty breeds fear. Fear prompts overreaction.

There are multiple media reports of increasing domestic violence.

Increasing Fraud

As the country grapples with the burgeoning coronavirus pandemic, cybersecurity experts are warning that employees working from home are increasingly being targeted by aggressive cyber criminals trying to capitalize on their unfamiliarity with remote work.

The dark web is buzzing with coronavirus-related activity, experts said, with hackers selling other hackers COVID-19 scam “kits” complete with fraudulent email templates to target workers at home, ABC News.

Cybercriminals are disguising dangerous malware as important Google Chrome security updates – and they’re spreading it through news sites. The malware was first spotted by analysts at antivirus company Doctor Web. According to Doctor Web, a number of websites that use the WordPress CMS platform have been hacked and embedded with some pretty dodgy JavaScript code, Trusted Reviews

Drug Traffickers Running Low-VICE

Jesús is a drug trafficker allied with the Sinaloa cartel. Last week, he and other traffickers received a WhatsApp message from the cartel’s top boss, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who declared that wholesale prices were going to increase for methamphetamine.

“Mayo sent this announcement saying, ‘Everyone is going to sell a pound of crystal for 15,000 pesos ($600) from now on because of the shortage. Before that, it was 2,500 pesos ($100),” said Jesús, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The message also said, ‘If you don’t obey, pay attention to the consequences.’ ”The stated reason for the sixfold price hike is the novel coronavirus pandemic. The cartel supply chain is complex and international.

The raw chemical ingredients used for manufacturing methamphetamine and fentanyl are mainly sourced from China, the epicentre of the outbreak. In a recent interview with VICE News, Jesús said his “cooks” were already running low on some of the essential materials used in the drug manufacturing process, VICE.

A disruption in the world’s illegal drug market will have a profound effect on supply and price and could lead to a rise in crime.

The Independent UK

From The Crime Report, with other enterprises, criminals have begun the process of adjusting to coronavirus both domestically and internationally, seeking to profit from the crisis, but also incurring unexpected losses with lockdowns and borders shutting.

In Britain, so far, most of the rise in lawlessness related to the virus has been opportunistic – preying on vulnerable people and the anxieties of the public to carry out scams, as well as thefts, albeit on a small scale so far, of goods in short supply, including vital medical equipment.

There has, predictably, been a huge rise in online crime, with Action Fraud, the government law agency, saying they had received more than 100 reports of fraud in the last seven weeks – with losses reaching nearly a million pounds. The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) reported the first Covid-19 related scam on 9 February, and a steadily rising number since then. The City of London Police have reported over 200 reports of virus-themed fraud attempts.

But other forms of Covid-19-related crimes are also being increasingly reported. The National police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) have said there have been thefts of oxygen canisters from hospitals and raids on food banks. Gangs have been targeting older people at home, appearing with official looking badges to take money to do their shopping, and then disappearing. There have also been a spate of reports of reports of people knocking on doors to sell fake hand sanitiser, face masks and even testing kits, IndependentUK.

Organized Crime

But before you shed any tears for the earth’s mobsters, their stock market is climbing again, as new opportunities are emerging, thanks to the pandemic—opportunities that may even be long-term. Think of mafia groups as viruses themselves, always aggressively adapting and morphing to infect societies for power and profit, Forbes.

Violent Extremists

There are concerns regarding attacks on Asian Americans, The Blaze.

A Department of Homeland Security memo sent to law enforcement officials around the country warns that violent extremists could seek to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by carrying out attacks against the U.S.

“Violent extremists probably are seeking to exploit public fears associated with the spread of COVID-19 to incite violence, intimidate targets and promote their ideologies, and we assess these efforts will intensify in the coming months,” according to the intelligence bulletin, compiled by the agency’s Counterterrorism Mission Center and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, ABC News.

Racist extremist groups, including neo-Nazis and other white supremacists, are encouraging members who contract novel coronavirus disease to spread the contagion to cops and Jews, according to intelligence gathered by the FBI.

In an alert obtained by ABC News, the FBI’s New York office reports that “members of extremist groups are encouraging one another to spread the virus, if contracted, through bodily fluids and personal interactions,” ABC News.

Federal counterterrorism officials say the pandemic might prompt would-be terrorists to expedite their plans or choose health-care targets. POLITICO

International Prisons

From The Crime Report, conditions worldwide during the coronavirus outbreak have caused tensions and unrest from Latin America to Europe to the Middle East, the Washington Post reports. Outside the walls, “It’s a very dark situation for the families,” said Mona Seif, an Egyptian activist whose brother is jailed at Cairo’s notorious Tora prison. China and South Korea have reported large outbreaks in their prisons. China has had 806 cases in five prisons across three provinces. Turkey is seeking to fast-track a plan to release as many as 100,000 inmates from overcrowded facilities, joining Iran and other countries that have freed some prisoners in response to the pandemic.

Elsewhere, anger over restrictive measures and anxiety about coronavirus have led to violence. In Colombia last weekend, nearly two dozen people died in riots that swept the prison system as inmates protested inadequate safeguards. In Italy, riots erupted in almost 50 prisons this month, leaving 13 inmates dead and 59 guards injured. In the Middle East, where hundreds of thousands of people have been rounded up in recent years in response to political uprisings, terrorism and the growth of conservative Islam, many prisoners are held in densely populated facilities that lack hygienic conditions and sunlight, leaving them susceptible to disease and infections.

Holding Charged Offenders

Per The Crime Report and the Washington Post, Justice Department scenarios to hold inmates longer than normal because of delayed court hearings amid the coronavirus epidemic are being considered. Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said, “Courts are closing and grand juries are not meeting. That means prosecutors may not be able to indict criminals before a statute of limitations expires, or dangerous criminals who have been arrested may be released because of time limits. Criminals should not be able to avoid justice because of a public health emergency.”

Increasing Violence Since 2015

Violent crime increased considerably since 2015 per the Bureau of Justice Statistics (USDOJ), Gallup and the Major Cities Chief Association. The FBI recorded small decreases in reported crime in 2018 and the first half of 2019, Violent Crime.

Before any of this happened, there were endless media reports of rising violence in cities throughout the country. There are cities with major crime problems, Most Dangerous Cities.

Officials in high crime cities are the most concerned regarding COVID-19 and disorder.

Conclusions

Law enforcement’s response to the uncertainty of the Coronavirus epidemic and the fear most Americans have during times of unparalleled stress will be a challenge for every police and correctional administrator.

While the emphasis is on America, officials throughout the world are expressing concern regarding crime and violence on a wide variety of fronts.

Police executives and officers have to make adjustments. Everyone understands that it can’t be business as usual. Communication strategies are key elements of the response.

Previous Coronavirus-COVID-19 Articles

Coronavirus Jails And Prisons-Will Correctional Officers Stay?

The Coronavirus, Crime And Law Enforcement Responses

The Coronavirus, Law Enforcement, Corrections And Crime

Corona Virus and Emergency Response

Violent Crime Beats Coronavirus As The Number One Issue

See More

See more articles on crime and justice at Crime in America.

Most Dangerous Cities/States/Countries at Most Dangerous Cities.

US Crime Rates at Nationwide Crime Rates.

National Offender Recidivism Rates at Offender Recidivism.

The Crime in America.Net RSS feed (https://crimeinamerica.net/?feed=rss2) provides subscribers with a means to stay informed about the latest news, publications and other announcements from the site.

Contact

Contact us at leonardsipes@gmail.com.

My book based on thirty-five years of criminal justice public relations,” Success With The Media: Everything You Need To Survive Reporters and Your Organization” available at Amazon

This is an ad-free website.

Reviews are appreciated.

Like this: Like Loading...