Crime under lockdown: the impact of COVID-19 on citizen security in the city of Buenos Aires

Autores
Pérez Vincent, Santiago M.; Schargrodsky, Ernesto Santiago; García Mejía, Mauricio
Año de publicación
2021
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
This paper studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown on criminal activity in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Following quarantine restrictions, we find a large, significant, robust, and immediate decline in property crime reported to official agencies, police arrests, and crime reported in victimization surveys. We observe no significant change in homicides, and a significant increase in arrests for “resistance to authorities”. The decrease in criminal activity was greater in business and transportation areas, but still large in commercial and residential areas (including informal settlements). After the sharp and immediate fall, crime recovered but, by the end of 2020, it had not reached its initial levels. The arrest data additionally shows a reduction in the distance from the detainee's address to the crime location, and a fall in the number of detainees from outside the City of Buenos Aires. Crime became more local as mobility was restricted. Policy Implications We find no evidence that the reduction in the number of detainees from outside the City of Buenos Aires led to a displacement of crimeto suburban areas. This result aligns with the hypothesis that focalized place-based interventions have the potential to reduce overall crime rates. Moreover, the increase in arrests for "resistance to authorities" at the checkpoints set up during the lockdown shows that the enforcement of mobility restrictions can cause frictions between citizens and police, negatively affecting police's legitimacy. We also find that the increased government presence for the provision of health and social services in informal settlements during the pandemic led, as a positive externality, to an additional decrease in crime.
Fil: Pérez Vincent, Santiago M.. Inter American Development Bank; Estados Unidos
Fil: Schargrodsky, Ernesto Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Torcuato Di Tella; Argentina
Fil: García Mejía, Mauricio. Inter American Development Bank; Estados Unidos
Materia
ARGENTINA
CITIZEN SECURITY
CRIME
DISPLACEMENT
LOCKDOWN
COVID-19
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/161342

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spelling Crime under lockdown: the impact of COVID-19 on citizen security in the city of Buenos AiresPérez Vincent, Santiago M.Schargrodsky, Ernesto SantiagoGarcía Mejía, MauricioARGENTINACITIZEN SECURITYCRIMEDISPLACEMENTLOCKDOWNCOVID-19https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5.2https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5This paper studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown on criminal activity in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Following quarantine restrictions, we find a large, significant, robust, and immediate decline in property crime reported to official agencies, police arrests, and crime reported in victimization surveys. We observe no significant change in homicides, and a significant increase in arrests for “resistance to authorities”. The decrease in criminal activity was greater in business and transportation areas, but still large in commercial and residential areas (including informal settlements). After the sharp and immediate fall, crime recovered but, by the end of 2020, it had not reached its initial levels. The arrest data additionally shows a reduction in the distance from the detainee's address to the crime location, and a fall in the number of detainees from outside the City of Buenos Aires. Crime became more local as mobility was restricted. Policy Implications We find no evidence that the reduction in the number of detainees from outside the City of Buenos Aires led to a displacement of crimeto suburban areas. This result aligns with the hypothesis that focalized place-based interventions have the potential to reduce overall crime rates. Moreover, the increase in arrests for "resistance to authorities" at the checkpoints set up during the lockdown shows that the enforcement of mobility restrictions can cause frictions between citizens and police, negatively affecting police's legitimacy. We also find that the increased government presence for the provision of health and social services in informal settlements during the pandemic led, as a positive externality, to an additional decrease in crime.Fil: Pérez Vincent, Santiago M.. Inter American Development Bank; Estados UnidosFil: Schargrodsky, Ernesto Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Torcuato Di Tella; ArgentinaFil: García Mejía, Mauricio. Inter American Development Bank; Estados UnidosJohn Wiley & Sons Inc.2021-08info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/161342Pérez Vincent, Santiago M.; Schargrodsky, Ernesto Santiago; García Mejía, Mauricio; Crime under lockdown: the impact of COVID-19 on citizen security in the city of Buenos Aires; John Wiley & Sons Inc.; Criminology and Public Policy; 20; 3; 8-2021; 463-4921538-64731745-9133CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1745-9133.12555info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/1745-9133.12555info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-29T09:54:08Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/161342instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-29 09:54:08.353CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Crime under lockdown: the impact of COVID-19 on citizen security in the city of Buenos Aires
title Crime under lockdown: the impact of COVID-19 on citizen security in the city of Buenos Aires
spellingShingle Crime under lockdown: the impact of COVID-19 on citizen security in the city of Buenos Aires
Pérez Vincent, Santiago M.
ARGENTINA
CITIZEN SECURITY
CRIME
DISPLACEMENT
LOCKDOWN
COVID-19
title_short Crime under lockdown: the impact of COVID-19 on citizen security in the city of Buenos Aires
title_full Crime under lockdown: the impact of COVID-19 on citizen security in the city of Buenos Aires
title_fullStr Crime under lockdown: the impact of COVID-19 on citizen security in the city of Buenos Aires
title_full_unstemmed Crime under lockdown: the impact of COVID-19 on citizen security in the city of Buenos Aires
title_sort Crime under lockdown: the impact of COVID-19 on citizen security in the city of Buenos Aires
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Pérez Vincent, Santiago M.
Schargrodsky, Ernesto Santiago
García Mejía, Mauricio
author Pérez Vincent, Santiago M.
author_facet Pérez Vincent, Santiago M.
Schargrodsky, Ernesto Santiago
García Mejía, Mauricio
author_role author
author2 Schargrodsky, Ernesto Santiago
García Mejía, Mauricio
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv ARGENTINA
CITIZEN SECURITY
CRIME
DISPLACEMENT
LOCKDOWN
COVID-19
topic ARGENTINA
CITIZEN SECURITY
CRIME
DISPLACEMENT
LOCKDOWN
COVID-19
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5.2
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv This paper studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown on criminal activity in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Following quarantine restrictions, we find a large, significant, robust, and immediate decline in property crime reported to official agencies, police arrests, and crime reported in victimization surveys. We observe no significant change in homicides, and a significant increase in arrests for “resistance to authorities”. The decrease in criminal activity was greater in business and transportation areas, but still large in commercial and residential areas (including informal settlements). After the sharp and immediate fall, crime recovered but, by the end of 2020, it had not reached its initial levels. The arrest data additionally shows a reduction in the distance from the detainee's address to the crime location, and a fall in the number of detainees from outside the City of Buenos Aires. Crime became more local as mobility was restricted. Policy Implications We find no evidence that the reduction in the number of detainees from outside the City of Buenos Aires led to a displacement of crimeto suburban areas. This result aligns with the hypothesis that focalized place-based interventions have the potential to reduce overall crime rates. Moreover, the increase in arrests for "resistance to authorities" at the checkpoints set up during the lockdown shows that the enforcement of mobility restrictions can cause frictions between citizens and police, negatively affecting police's legitimacy. We also find that the increased government presence for the provision of health and social services in informal settlements during the pandemic led, as a positive externality, to an additional decrease in crime.
Fil: Pérez Vincent, Santiago M.. Inter American Development Bank; Estados Unidos
Fil: Schargrodsky, Ernesto Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Torcuato Di Tella; Argentina
Fil: García Mejía, Mauricio. Inter American Development Bank; Estados Unidos
description This paper studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown on criminal activity in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Following quarantine restrictions, we find a large, significant, robust, and immediate decline in property crime reported to official agencies, police arrests, and crime reported in victimization surveys. We observe no significant change in homicides, and a significant increase in arrests for “resistance to authorities”. The decrease in criminal activity was greater in business and transportation areas, but still large in commercial and residential areas (including informal settlements). After the sharp and immediate fall, crime recovered but, by the end of 2020, it had not reached its initial levels. The arrest data additionally shows a reduction in the distance from the detainee's address to the crime location, and a fall in the number of detainees from outside the City of Buenos Aires. Crime became more local as mobility was restricted. Policy Implications We find no evidence that the reduction in the number of detainees from outside the City of Buenos Aires led to a displacement of crimeto suburban areas. This result aligns with the hypothesis that focalized place-based interventions have the potential to reduce overall crime rates. Moreover, the increase in arrests for "resistance to authorities" at the checkpoints set up during the lockdown shows that the enforcement of mobility restrictions can cause frictions between citizens and police, negatively affecting police's legitimacy. We also find that the increased government presence for the provision of health and social services in informal settlements during the pandemic led, as a positive externality, to an additional decrease in crime.
publishDate 2021
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2021-08
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/161342
Pérez Vincent, Santiago M.; Schargrodsky, Ernesto Santiago; García Mejía, Mauricio; Crime under lockdown: the impact of COVID-19 on citizen security in the city of Buenos Aires; John Wiley & Sons Inc.; Criminology and Public Policy; 20; 3; 8-2021; 463-492
1538-6473
1745-9133
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/161342
identifier_str_mv Pérez Vincent, Santiago M.; Schargrodsky, Ernesto Santiago; García Mejía, Mauricio; Crime under lockdown: the impact of COVID-19 on citizen security in the city of Buenos Aires; John Wiley & Sons Inc.; Criminology and Public Policy; 20; 3; 8-2021; 463-492
1538-6473
1745-9133
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1745-9133.12555
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/1745-9133.12555
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv John Wiley & Sons Inc.
publisher.none.fl_str_mv John Wiley & Sons Inc.
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
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instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
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