When you call some crimes “senseless,” you risk implying that other crimes are sensible. Of course, we want our readers to know that crime does not pay. But if we’re honest, some crimes, in the short run, do have a payoff.
Stealing a purse may be dumb, and it is certainly not endorsed by most ethical systems. But it does have a purpose. If you succeed, you have the woman’s money. Plus, the purse makes a nice gift for your girlfriend, wife, or daughter.
Not all crime, however, accomplishes something. Murder sometimes has a purpose, sure, but that’s a lot more common in television shows than in real life. For every understudy who knocks off the prima ballerina to get the lead role, there are 100 murders that are simply crimes of passion committed by people with low impulse control or on drugs.
We could divide crime into two categories: crimes of purpose versus antisocial crime. Robbery and burglary have a purpose. Murder and assault generally don’t.
COVIDtide has seen fewer crimes of purpose and more antisocial crime.
In 2020, when schools were closed, record numbers were unemployed, basketball hoops were removed from local courts, sports seasons were canceled, and socializing with neighbors was largely frowned upon, aggravated assault and murder went way up, while burglary and larceny went way down.
People are stealing stuff less and punching strangers more.
Why?
For one thing, lockdowns could make some thefts trickier. It’s harder to predict which home is empty when. For a while in 2020, people were driving less, so there wasn’t likely to be anything valuable left in the car.
Many aspects of modernity make burglary or theft harder. Cars have better technology, and homes have their little surveillance cameras on their doorbells. Add in how many people have stopped carrying cash, and the would-be thief or mugger just has fewer opportunities.
So, why the increase in antisocial crimes? The pandemic and the lockdowns have made us worse people. We’re masked. We inherently see everyone as a threat. We’ve lost pro-social activities such as school, work, and the pickup basketball game.
Antisocial people will commit more antisocial crimes.
We do not yet have adequate data on the relative protection provided by a cloth mask versus an N-95 when a stranger on the sidewalk punches you in the face.
