Rising Crime Hampers Post-Pandemic Recovery, City Officials Say
Even as the economy recovers and restrictions have been lifted, crime rates have remained high.
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Crime rates have spiked across the nation since the onset of the pandemic, and many downtown areas are still struggling to quell crime and bring people back in, reports USA Today. The spike in crime during the pandemic could be attributed to stressors such as unemployment and housing and food insecurity, but even as the economy recovers and restrictions have been lifted, crime rates have remained high. Leaders in major cities like New York and Chicago, meanwhile, are tackling a surge in crime rates on buses and trains, with New York reporting that, for instance, the rate of violent crimes per million rides rose from 1.45 in 2019 to 2.71 in 2020, increasing another 8 percent between 2020 and 2021.
One way to address climbing crime rates could be changing policing tactics, “which to me means more precision policing, you know, arresting the right people, not harassing the wrong people” and focusing on prevention, said Christopher Herrmann, an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
