CoronaCrime #14

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has taken a terrible toll in lives, illness, and economic devastation and it is having diverse effects on violence and crime. Therefore, the Daily Prevention News publishes weekly a Corona Crime Issue dedicated to collect related relevant news and information.

1. Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Elder Mistreatment and Response in New York City: Initial Lessons
   New York City is currently experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19, a highly contagious and potentially deadly virus, which is particularly dangerous for older adults. This pandemic has led to public health policies including social distancing and stay-at-home orders. The study explores the impact of this unique crisis on victims of elder mistreatment and people at risk of victimization. Source: Journal of Applied Gerontology
2. Changes in the frequency of criminal incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic
   While COVID-19 has not had an impact on all crime types, statistically significant change has been identified in a number of cases. Depending on the crime type, the magnitude and direction of the change in frequency varies. It is argued that (mandated) social restrictions, shifted activity patterns and opportunity structures which are responsible for these findings. Conclusions: We find support for changes in the frequency of particular crime types during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is important for criminal justice and social service practitioners when operating within an extraordinary event. Source: Journal of Criminal Justice
3. Pandemic Preparedness: A U.K. Perspective on Overlaps with Countering Terrorism
   The United Kingdom has developed a large and intricate counterterrorism infrastructure in the face of a persistent and evolving terrorist threat. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a government-in-crisis mode has drawn on the counterterrorism playbook. The severity of the crisis, however, was partly explained by the United Kingdom’s failure to treat national health as a top-tier national security concern. Linking national health and national security issues, however, carries both risks (to civil liberties, for example), as well as potential rewards (by enabling better resourcing and coordination efforts to counter pandemics and bioterrorism simultaneously). Source: Combating Terrorism Center
4. Sociodemographic Determinants of Occupational Risks of Exposure to COVID‐19 in Canada
   The activities performed by Canadian workers in some occupations may increase the risk of exposure to infectious diseases such as COVID‐19. This research note explores how occupational exposure risks vary by labor force characteristics using publicly available Canadian data in combination with a data set providing information on the level of physical proximity and frequency of exposure to infections or diseases faced by workers in different occupations. Source: Canadian Review of Sociology
5. Covid-19 and Border Control
   Since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Border Criminologies team, along with others around the globe, has expressed reiterated concerns about the impact of the pandemic on the wellbeing of migrants, in particular on those who are undocumented and/or held in detention centres. Border Criminologies is currently working with local NGOs, activists, lawyers, students, academics, and people who have experienced detention, to gather detailed, grassroots information about measures that have been taken at the national and local level to protect the rights of people in immigration detention since the Covid-19 outbreak. Source: University of Oxford Faculty of Law

Please find more information and news about the interlinkages between the Coronavirus, Crime and Violence in German published every Tuesday on our German News Service Tägliche Präventions News.