What has happened to crime since “the quarantine?”

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Since it’s been almost a month since Inslee’s “Stay Home” order, and I wondered, what has happened to crime?

I looked at Bellevue crimes reported within 2 miles of downtown over the past 12 weeks. In short: Crime has declined significantly in the last 4 weeks!

In the last 4 weeks, there were 130 crimes reported, down 60% from the previous 4 weeks, and down 54% from 8 weeks ago.

Which types of crimes moved?

Larceny, Fraud, and Drugs all had significant decreases, which is great!

A few crime categories actually went to zero, although sample sizes are low. I must say, I’m pretty pumped about all these categories going to zero. It’s not super surprising: no bars are open, so no DUIs. Not many people are out and about, so the other three categories also declined.

While there was great progress, there are several categories that didn’t really move. Plenty of cars parked on the street, and just as many homes out there, and people are still breaking into those. The assault # is a little surprising – the only one that sticks out to me as strange.

What is not included in this data is domestic disturbances. From the Bellevue police reports, it looks like there could be a spike, however I would want to see an official data source on that.

I will check back in on this data once restrictions are lifted – will be interesting (and sad) to see what spikes up.

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