INDIANAPOLIS — Through the first two months of 2020, Indianapolis had 40 homicides.
In March, there have been six.
As you probably guessed, the coronavirus has played a large role.
“People’s daily routines have been significantly disrupted,” says Jeremy Carter, a criminal justice professor at IUPUI. “So it’s not that surprising that the number of criminal events has decreased in certain categories.”
Some of those categories include shootings, robberies, and burglaries.
“Most people are home, so the number of available targets that offenders could potentially burgle is down,” Carter said.
That goes for many cities and towns across Indiana.
In Indianapolis though, Carter says a lot of the crime in the first two months of this year came from teenagers and young adults. But with no school and no one allowed to travel or go out, they have fewer opportunities to interact.
“They are not coming into contact with one another on such a frequent basis where you start to have these social situations that escalate into violence,” he said. “I think the numbers being down means parents, or grandparents, or whoever is taking care of these kids are keeping them off the street and keeping them occupied.”
However, Carter believes just because crime is down during the first month of the coronavirus crisis, doesn’t mean that will continue to be the trend the longer it drags out.
“It really boils down to people being in desperate economic and social situations, combined with their ability to manage aggression and difficult situations,” he said. “(The longer the coronavirus crisis continues), it wouldn’t surprise me if we see our homicide and shooting numbers increase.”
