Criminology

David Abrams of the Law School warned that focusing on crime statistics over short periods of time, such as week-to-week rates, can be misleading. “If you look at a longer time horizon over 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. I mean, crime is down immensely from what it was in the ‘80s and ‘90s,” he said.

David Abrams of the Wharton School said crime reports and arrests fell significantly in the spring amid stay-at-home orders. “If you are a criminal, you have fewer targets,” he said.

PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts commented on the use of DNA in surveillance and policing. “Because of the huge disparities and injustices in the way in which criminal laws are enforced, like rampant racial profiling by police, collecting DNA is a racist practice,” she said. “It embeds within it the racist practices for arresting people and charging them with crimes.”

A database compiled by David Abrams of the Law School used mobile phone records to measure the relationship between the rise of social distancing and the decline of arrests once the pandemic began.

David Abrams of the Law School and Wharton School spoke about how crime rates have shifted amid the pandemic. "People have reacted to the pandemic in all sorts of ways in decreasing economic activity," he said. "They stopped going to work, they stopped driving their car. They stopped walking around the city, and crime also stopped."

Richard Berk of the School of Arts & Sciences commented on an uptick in gun violence in the U.S. "Every homicide is a tragedy," he said. "It particularly is a tragedy when you see these kids get shot."

Research by John MacDonald of the School of Arts & Sciences on crime and vacant lots was cited.