The Impact of COVID-19
on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations
An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

l'i§il SAFETY+JUSTICE

15!. CHALLENGE

Supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

The JFA Institute
Denver, CO ۰ Washington, D.C. ۰ Camden, SC

Executive Summary
Beginning in March 2020, local and state criminal agencies took several actions to mitigate the rising
number of people being infected with the COVID-19 virus. To address these concerns, a variety of
policies were enacted to reduce the number of persons held in jails. These polices were designed to 1)
mitigate the number of people being arrested and booked into local jails and 2) reduce the length of
stay (LOS) for those admitted to jail. Concurrently, public safety concerns were raised that by lowering
the jail populations, crime in the community would increase.
To address these concerns, the JFA Institute (JFA), through resources provided by the John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC) program, began tracking and
analyzing six cities and counties participating in SJC (jurisdictions) and their jail and crime data in real
time to monitor the impact of these mitigation activities. In October 2020, JFA expanded the study to
eleven jurisdictions and collected the data through December 2020 to examine longer term trends and a
potential rebound.
Analysis of the eleven jurisdictions:
•

Analysis of the eleven jurisdictions studied revealed jail populations declined, yet crime and
arrests declined as well, giving indication that declining jail populations did not compromise
public safety.

•

Overall, total reported crime was 22% lower in December 2020 when compared to December
2019 and 14% lower for the total number of reported crimes for CY 2020 versus CY 2019.

•

When combining all jurisdictions, there was an average 39% decrease in jail bookings, which
equates to over 130,000 fewer jail bookings in a one-year time frame. Jail booking decreases
were fueled by the decrease in property crime and arrests, primarily for misdemeanor and
lower-level felony charges.

•

As a result of the change in jail bookings, the composition of the jail populations changed postCOVID-19, with a higher proportion being male and charged with violent felony and non-drug
felony crimes.

•

The LOS for people in jail has increased due to the changing make-up of the jail populations and
a slowdown in court case processing.

•

After the historic initial decrease, jail populations rebounded somewhat but stabilized in
October 2020. During this time, there was no substantial increase in overall crime.

There are challenges ahead in keeping jail populations low, namely maintaining lower arrests, jail
bookings, and reducing the length of stay by expediting the disposition of criminal cases. The response
to COVID-19 has shown that such reforms are possible and can safely reduce the number of persons
held in jail but sustaining lower jail populations will require maintaining these reforms in some manner.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................... 1
I.

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3

II. Data Collected ........................................................................................................................................ 4
III. Analysis ................................................................................................................................................... 4
A. A Dramatic Reduction in Jail Populations ........................................................................................ 5
B. Impact on Reported Crime............................................................................................................... 7
C. Impact on Adult Arrests ................................................................................................................ 12
D. Length of Stay ................................................................................................................................ 14
E. Changes in the Composition of the Jail Population ...................................................................... 14
IV. Conclusions........................................................................................................................................... 15
Appendix .................................................................................................................................................... 17

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

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I.

Introduction

Beginning in March 2020, local and state criminal justice agencies took several actions to mitigate the
rising number of people being infected with the COVID-19 virus. There was considerable concern that
people arrested and booked into local county jails would be unduly exposed to the virus, become
infected, and then spread the virus to those also confined to jails, employees, and/or to others in the
community once released from confinement.
To address these concerns, a variety of policies were enacted to reduce the number of persons in held
jails. These polices were designed to 1) mitigate the number of people being arrested and booked into
local jails and 2) reduce the length of stay (LOS) for those admitted to jail. Concurrently, public safety
concerns were raised that by lowering the jail populations, crime rates would increase. To address these
concerns, the JFA Institute (JFA), through resources provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC) initiative, began tracking and analyzing six SJC
jurisdictions and their jail and crime data to monitor the impact of these mitigation activities. This
culminated in a preliminary report issued in late 2020 with data and observations covering a time frame
of January 2019 to June 20201.
Results of this first-stage analysis found an emerging trend where jail populations declined, yet crime
and arrests declined as well, giving indication that declining jail populations did not compromise public
safety. As the pandemic continued into its second, third and even fourth wave, some mitigation
measures were modified, but most continued. To build upon the findings gleaned from the first
analysis, JFA expanded the study to eleven jurisdictions and collected the data through December 2020.
The eleven participating jurisdictions for this iteration of analysis are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Allegheny County, PA (Pittsburgh);
Charleston County, SC (Charleston);
Cook County, IL (Chicago);
East Baton Rouge Parish, LA (Baton Rouge);
Lake County, IL;
Los Angeles County, CA;
Orleans Parish, LA (New Orleans);
Pennington County, SD (Rapid City);
City and County of San Francisco, CA;
Spokane County, WA; and,
St. Louis County, MO.

1

http://www.jfa-associates.com/publications/jss/Impact%20of%20COVID19%20on%20Crime%20(prelim%202).pdf

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

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II.

Data Collected

For each of the eleven jurisdictions, JFA collected a wide array of aggregate- and individual-level data for
both pre- and post-COVID-19 timeframes. Since the pandemic is still occurring, for the purpose of this
analysis post-COVID-19 refers to data from April 2020 to December 2020. In terms of aggregate-level
data, the following counts were provided by each jurisdiction for each month from January 2019 to
December 2020:
1. Reported UCR crimes or NIBRS (murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, larcenytheft, and motor vehicle theft);
2. Adult arrests (UCR crimes, total felony, total misdemeanor, and domestic violence);
3. Jail bookings; and
4. End-of-month jail population.
These data were used to assess the impact of COVID-19 on crime, arrests, and jail populations. By
collecting data back to January 2019, one can control for traditional seasonal fluctuations in these
metrics (crime, arrests, and jail populations tend to rise in the spring and summer and decline in the fall
and winter seasons). The crime and arrest data were provided by the major individual law enforcement
agencies for each county (a minimum of 75% of all jail bookings). Appendix A has detailed lists of each
jurisdiction’s law enforcement agencies that contributed to data in this report.
In addition to aggregate-level data, JFA collected individual-level data for the following populations both
prior to and after the implementation of COVID-19 restrictions:
1. Snapshot of the jail population at the end of February 2020 and the end of December 2020; and
2. Jail releases since January 1, 2019.
These individual-level data demonstrate how some key attributes of people comprising the jail
population have changed beginning with the declines first seen in March 2020. The jail release files
allowed for a more detailed comparison of how people are being released from jail and, more
importantly, their length of stay (LOS).

III.

Analysis

The following pages present the analysis of these data. JFA pooled the data for all eleven jurisdictions to
analyze overall trends. Where there are significant differences in the overall trends for specific
jurisdictions, these are noted and commented on, emphasizing the individual jurisdictions’ impact on
the overall trend. JFA examined data for the entire pre- and post-COVID-19 period; however, specific
attention was paid to differentiate between initial COVID-19 impacts that occurred between March and
May of 2020 and longer sustained trends, which will be shown by year-on-year comparisons of 2019 and
2020.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

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A. Dramatic Reduction in Jail Populations
Restrictions imposed by jurisdictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 had an immediate and dramatic
effect on jail populations across the country. Mandated jail population reductions to allow for social
distancing resulted in a variety of policy measures across the eleven jurisdictions studied. Nearly all
jurisdictions enacted the use of virtual hearings and suspended or postponed court cases/hearings.
Further initial reduction measures ranged from early release for sentenced offenders, increased use of
ROR and pre-trial release, changes to bail/bond schedules and rules, and suspension of arrest for
misdemeanor and traffic offenses. These data are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Mitigation Actions Taken by SJC Jurisdictions
Mitigation Action

Allegheny

Reduction/suspend FTAs
Use of virtual hearings
Reduction in
misdemeanor/traffic
arrests
Increase use of ROR for
certain defendants
Expanded use of early
release/time served
Release of persons with
"high" risk for COVID-19
Changes to bail/bond
rules
Expansion of pre-trial
release
Rule changes for issuing
warrants/violations

✔

Charleston

Cook

New
Orleans

San
Francisco

East
Baton
Rouge

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

ꭓ

✔

✔

✔

✔+

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

ꭓ

✔

✔**

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

ꭓ

ꭓ

✔

✔
✔

✔
✔

✔

ꭓ

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

St.
Louis

Pennington

Lake

Spokane

Los
Angeles

✔*

ꭓ

✔
✔***

✔

ꭓ

✔

ꭓ

✔
✔

✔

✔

✔

No evictions permitted

✔

✔++

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

Court cases/hearings
suspended or postponed

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

ꭓ

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

ꭓ

✔

Note: *In February 2021, the Washington State Supreme Court promulgated a new Court Rule that changes when a court of limited jurisdiction
can issue an FTA Warrant. **Continuation of this policy may vary across law enforcement agency. ***District Court Judges are continuing to
receive daily inmate population lists for a case-by-case review by the assigned judge. +Policies to reduce these arrests enacted prior to March
2020 but continued through the pandemic. ++Limits placed on evictions but not a full moratorium.

Legend: ✔ Measure began with COVID-19 and has continued.
ꭓ Measure began with COVID-19 but has been discontinued.

These swift actions sizably reduced the jail population in all eleven jurisdictions studied. Pooled data for
all jurisdictions showed a pronounced decrease in the jail population from the end of February 2020 to
the end of May 2020. Jail population decreases ranged from 14% to as high as 40%. The average
decline across all jurisdictions during the initial three months was 26%. Beginning in June 2020, jail
populations rebounded somewhat and continued to grow through October 2020. In the fourth quarter
of 2020, jail populations in the jurisdictions studied seemed to stabilize and, even with the mid-year
rebound, the number of confined persons at the end of December 2020 remained substantially lower
than December 2019 (-14%). Figure 1 illustrates the trends in the jail population of the eleven
jurisdictions from January 2019 to December 2020. While the summary data show jail populations

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

5

remained low, two jurisdictions in our study had a flat or small increase in jail population when
comparing year on year. St. Louis County saw a total net increase of 46 detainees in jail at the end of
December 2020 compared with December 2019, and Cook County had a small year-on-year decrease of
just -4%.

Figure 1. Jail Population January 2019 to December 2020
COVID-19
Restrictions
Imposed

Number of Persons in Jail

40,000

31,938

35,000

27,597

30,000
25,000
20,000

I-

15,000

I-

I-

I-

I-

10,000
5,000
0

Dec-20

Nov-20

Oct-20

Sep-20

Aug-20

Jul-20

Jun-20

May-20

Apr-20

Mar-20

Feb-20

Jan-20

Dec-19

Nov-19

Oct-19

Sep-19

Aug-19

Jul-19

Jun-19

May-19

Apr-19

Mar-19

Feb-19

Jan-19

■ Jail Populat ion

Jurisdictions included: Allegheny, Charleston, Cook, East Baton Rouge, Lake, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Pennington (NIBRS), San Francisco,
Spokane, St. Louis

The initial jail population reduction was fueled by a decrease in jail bookings for property crime and
arrests, primarily for misdemeanor and lower-level felony charges. When comparing jail bookings for all
eleven jurisdictions from February 2020 through May 2020, the total number of bookings declined on
average 41% from the same period in 2019.
The decline in jail bookings (-41%) was larger on a percentage basis than the decline in the jail
population when comparing the end of May 2019 and May 2020 (-30%). The divergent declines in
bookings and jail populations are related to the higher proportion of people not being arrested and
brought to jail for misdemeanor and low-level felony crimes. Individuals arrested for these crimes
typically have a shorter LOS in jails as they are more able to secure pretrial release through bail or their
own recognizance. The shorter an individual’s LOS in a jail, the lesser the impact of not admitting that
person will have on the total jail population.
It is noteworthy that, beginning in May 2020, jail bookings began to increase from the historic lows seen
in April 2020. These increases in bookings fueled the rebound in the jail populations previously
mentioned. The monthly increases in jail bookings leveled off in October 2020 and saw a slightly
decreasing trend emerge in November and December of 2020. November and December 2020 jail
bookings averaged 41% lower when compared to November and December of 2019.
Even with the fluctuations in jail bookings over the entire year, total jail bookings for all CY 2020
compared with CY 2019 were an average of 39% lower. When combining all jurisdictions, the decreases
equated to over 130,000 fewer jail bookings in a one-year time frame. Figure 2 compares the two-year
trend of the jail population and bookings for the eleven jurisdictions studied.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

6

Figure 2. Jail Population, Bookings & Length of Stay January 2019 to December
2020
80

35,000

31,938

30,000

51

62

60
27,597 50
40

25,000

23,681

20,000

70

15,000

30

10,000

13,536 20

5,000

10

Length of Stay (days)

Jail Population & Bookings

40,000

0

Jail Populat ion

......

Dec-20

Nov-20

Oct-20

Sep-20

Aug-20

Jul-20

Jun-20

Apr-20

Mar-20

Feb-20

Jan-20

Dec-19

Bookings

May-20

......

Nov-19

Oct-19

Sep-19

Aug-19

Jul-19

Jun-19

Apr-19

May-19

Mar-19

Feb-19

Jan-19

0

Lengt h of St ay (days)

Jurisdictions included: Allegheny, Charleston, Cook, East Baton Rouge, Lake, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Pennington, San Francisco, Spokane, St.
Louis

B. Impact on Reported Crime
Any discussion about trends in crime rates needs to be seen in context with the overall crime trends
since the 1990s. Since the early 1990s overall crime, murder, and other violent crime have all
plummeted. In 1990, the overall crime rate was nearly 6,000 per 100,000, the violent crime rate was
about 750 per 100,000, and the murder rate was 10 per 100,000. Since then, crime rates have steadily
declined. By 2019, overall crime rate was 2,490 per 100,000, or more than half the 1990 rate. The 2019
violent crime rate was 380 per 100,000, and the murder rate was 5 per 100,000 – again about half the
1990 rates.2 These dramatic declines in the crime rates were not driven by larger jail or prison
populations but by demographic and economic factors.3
When examining changes in crime over the last year, it must be noted that any 2020 one-year annual
“percent changes” are based on crime rates that were already historically low in 2019. Any increase
observed in 2020 does not accurately represent major changes in one’s risk of being victimized. Finally,
crimes rates fluctuate seasonally within a year (rates are higher in the summer and lower in the winter)
and can fluctuate during a downward or upward trend year by year. Given this, caution must be given to
sudden increases or decreases that have occurred since COVID-19 in lieu of the longer established
trends.
Overall, as a result of the CVOID-19 pandemic, declines in both jail bookings and populations have not
translated to increased reported crimes or arrests. Across all eleven jurisdictions, there was a sharp
decline in the number of serious crimes reported to police beginning in March 2020 and continuing

2

https://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm
James Austin, Todd Clear, and Richard Rosenfeld. 2020. Explaining Past and Projecting Future Crime Rates. New
York, NY: The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. hfg.org/crime_forecasting.htm.
3

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

7

through May 2020. Most of this decline was attributable to declines in larceny-theft, which traditionally
comprises over 60% of the total UCR crimes.
From May 2020 through the fall of 2020, there was a modest up-tick in the number of crimes reported,
but some of this increase was related to seasonal fluctuations in crime. For example, the number of
total crimes for every month from March 2020 through December 2020 is well below the corresponding
monthly number for 2019. Figure 3 displays the trends of the jail population, reported total crime, and
violent crime for the two-year period.

Figure 3. Jail Population and UCR Crime January 2019 to December 2020
50,000

36,525

40,000

28,478

30,000

31,938
27,597

Jul-19

Aug-19

Sep-19

Oct-19

Nov-19

I

•

I

I

I

I

• •

6,340
I

e
Dec-20

Jun-19

•

I

Nov-20

May-19

I

Sep-20

I

Aug-20

I

Jul-20

I

Jun-20

I

May-20

•

Apr-20

I

Mar-20

I

Feb-20

I

Dec-19

I

Apr-19

6,644

._ •

Mar-19

10,000

Jan-20

20,000

Jan-19

Jail Population & Total Crime

60,000

-

Jail Populat ion

- Crime

Oct-20

Feb-19

0

Violent Crime

Jurisdictions included: Allegheny, Charleston, Cook, East Baton Rouge, Lake, Los Angeles (LAPD only), New Orleans, Pennington (NIBRS), San
Francisco, Spokane, St. Louis

Another way to represent these data is to show the entirety of CY 2019 versus CY 2020 (a year-to-date
or YTD analysis). This shows the traditional spring to summer increase in crime for 2020 but not nearly
at the level for the same six-month timeframe for 2019. These data are shown in Figures 4 and 5.
Overall, total reported crime was 22% lower in December 2020 when compared to December 2019 and
14% lower for the total number of reported crimes for CY 2020 versus CY 2019.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

8

Figure 4. Reported UCR Total & Property Crime 2019 & 2020 Year-to-Date
40,000

36,525

Number of Reported Crimes

35,000

29,881

30,000

--- -----

25,000
20,000

- - .... - ..... -- ---- ---- .....

28,478

22,138

15,000
10,000

5,000
0
Jan

Feb

Mar

Tot al 2019

Apr

~-

May

Tot al 2020

Jun
~

Jul

Aug

Propert y 2019

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

~- Propert y 2020

Jurisdictions included: Allegheny, Charleston, Cook, East Baton Rouge, Lake, Los Angeles (LAPD only), New Orleans, Pennington (NIBRS), San
Francisco, Spokane, St. Louis

Serious reported crime is made up of violent crime and property crime categories. Each of these
categories were analyzed over the pre- and post-COVID-19 timeframe to distinguish trends in individual
crimes in the jurisdictions.

Figure 5. Reported UCR Violent Crime 2019 & 2020 Year-to-Date
10,000

Number of Reported Crimes

9,000
8,000

7,000
6,000

~

~~~/

- ~ ~ •--

r"

-~~ >"

.--- •

1: _____ .....
I

,

6,644

I

~:

--✓
---------------------------6,340

5,000
4,000

3,000
2,000
1,000
0
Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Violent 2019

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

~- Violent 2020

Jurisdictions included: Allegheny, Charleston, Cook, East Baton Rouge, Lake, Los Angeles (LAPD only), New Orleans, Pennington (NIBRS), San
Francisco, Spokane, St. Louis

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

9

Property Crime
Three crime types make up the UCR property crime category: larceny/theft, burglary, and motor vehicle
theft. As noted earlier, property crime, particularly larceny/theft, make up over half of all crimes
reported and thus has a considerable influence over the overall reported property crime trend. All
jurisdictions studied reported huge declines in reported larceny/theft crimes, both initially (March to
May 2020) and longer-term (2019 versus 2020). There were 27% lower larceny/theft reported crimes in
all of 2020 over 2019. Burglary showed mixed results across jurisdictions. Seven of the eleven
jurisdictions showed moderate to substantial decreases in burglaries for all of 2020 (Cook, St. Louis, New
Orleans, Lake, Charleston, Los Angeles, and Allegheny) while four jurisdictions reported no change or
moderate increases for the year (East Baton Rouge, Pennington, San Francisco, and Spokane). With all
jurisdictions combined, total reported burglary crimes for all jurisdictions for 2020 were flat when
compared with 2019.
Escalations in motor vehicle thefts have been publicized in the news recently, with some jurisdictions
outside of this study reporting increases of over 50% in 2020. Jurisdictions in our study fall into this
same trend, with only three jurisdictions reporting fewer motor vehicle thefts in 2020 than 2019
(Allegheny, Spokane, and East Baton Rouge). All eight remaining jurisdictions reported flat to
substantial increases in motor vehicle thefts in 2020 (Charleston, Lake, New Orleans, Pennington, San
Francisco, St. Louis, and Cook). Overall motor vehicle thefts for all jurisdictions for 2020 increased 19%,
giving evidence to some recent news reports. Data available at this time is not sufficient to establish a
causation of increases in motor vehicle thefts, while other property crimes remain at significantly lower
levels.

Figure 6. Reported UCR Property Crime January 2019 to December 2020
COVID-19
I Restrictions
35,000
Imposed

~~
~~--....,,..
.....
21,565

-

'

15,000
10,000

"'-- ._

-

4,747

-

-

-

Tot al Propert y

Burglary

Theft / Larcent y

Aug-20

-

Jul-20

Apr-20

Mar-20

Feb-20

- -

3,695
Jan-20

Nov-19

Oct-19

Sep-19

Aug-19

Jul-19

Jun-19

May-19

Apr-19

-

-

-

3,878
Mar-19

Feb-19

Jan-19

- -

Dec-20

-

• •

Nov-20

-

-

0

22,138
13,696

...

4,438
5,000

............

Oct-20

~

I

Sep-20

.,....

--4-

Jun-20

20,000

I

May-20

25,000

Dec-19

Number Property Crimes

29,881

30,000

MV Theft

Jurisdictions included: Allegheny, Charleston, Cook, East Baton Rouge, Lake, Los Angeles (LAPD only), New Orleans, Pennington (NIBRS), San
Francisco, Spokane, St. Louis

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

10

Violent Crime
After the initial post-COVID-19 decline, data show an increased number of reported murders and
aggravated assaults beginning in May 2020. Increases in murders during the summer of 2020 in certain
cities have been widely reported in the media, which has been anecdotally linked to reductions in jail
populations and/or demonstrations against police violence. This report solely focuses on trends and
provides data analysis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data available at this time is not sufficient to
establish a causation of increases in certain violent crimes (murder), while other violent crimes (rape
and robbery) remain and significantly lower levels.
Statistically, for the eleven SJC jurisdictions studied here, there have been mixed results. From June
through December 2020, none of the eleven jurisdictions studied reported a decrease in the number of
murders when compared to the same period in 2019. Some jurisdictions like Lake, Spokane and
Pennington posted over an 100% increase in the number of murders, but these data should be qualified
by the small volume of crimes contributing to that percentage (Spokane 27, Pennington 16, and Lake 2).
All other jurisdictions together averaged an increase of 45% more reported murders in 2020 over 2019.
One jurisdiction in particular (Cook) experienced the most dramatic rise when reported murders in June
2020 were nearly double the number reported in June 2019. This peak was followed by a sharp decline,
and the monthly average for reported murders fell back to levels seen in 2019. Other categories of
violent crime showed different results, with aggravated assault growing slightly by 5% across all
jurisdictions when comparing 2020 to 2019 and rape and robbery decreasing substantially –22% and 12% respectively. Figure 7 displays the total reported violent crime for all eleven jurisdictions for the
two-year period.

Figure 7. Reported UCR Violent Crime January 2019 to December 2020
COVID-19
Restrictions
Imposed

8,000

6,644

Number of Violent Crimes

7,000

6,340

6,000
5,000

4,076

3,965
4,000
3,000

2,143

1,782

2,000
1,000

I

I

I

I

I

I

Aug-20

Sep-20

Oct-20

Nov-20

I161
Dec-20

I

Jul-20

Mar-20

Feb-20

Jan-20

Dec-19

Nov-19

Oct-19

Sep-19

Aug-19

Jul-19

Jun-19

May-19

Apr-19

Mar-19

Feb-19

Jan-19

Tot al

I

Jun-20

412
124

May-20

:: : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

•

321
Apr-20

0

I

......Murder ......Rape ......Robbery ......Aggravat ed Assault

Jurisdictions included: Allegheny, Charleston, Cook, East Baton Rouge, Lake, Los Angeles (LAPD only), New Orleans, Pennington (NIBRS), San
Francisco, Spokane, St. Louis

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

11

The clear conclusion is that overall crime has declined since COVID-19 restrictions were imposed,
particularly for the crime of larceny-theft. At the same time, there has been no increase in the
aggregate number of violent crimes.

C. Impact on Adult Arrests
The pre- and post-COVID-19 arrest trends are similar to the reported crime trends. Initially, arrests
dropped sharply after COVID-19 restrictions were imposed and rebounded slightly beginning in June
2020. Total UCR adult arrests declined 20% when comparing 2019 and 2020. This dramatic decrease is
in part due to the drop in crime but also due to actions taken by law enforcement agencies to reduce
the number of arrests, especially for misdemeanor crimes and outstanding warrants. As a result, the
total number of UCR property arrests declined most substantially (26%) when comparing 2019 to 2020,
while total UCR violent arrests declined on a smaller scale, down 12%.
Like the observations from the reported crime data, each category of violent and property crime arrests
had specific fluctuations within each crime type. Year on year, violent crime arrests decreased 12%, but
within the category the total number of murder arrests increased 22%. Year on year, 2020 total
property crime arrests decreased, but within the category, motor vehicle theft increased 7%. Figure 8
displays UCR property and violent crime arrests for the two-year period.
Eight of the participating jurisdictions were able to separate misdemeanor-level arrests from felony,
with all showing dramatic declines initially post-COVID-19. Both felony and misdemeanor arrests
rebounded slightly but remained well below their pre-COVID-19 levels. Felony arrests remain 29% lower
when comparing December 2019 to December 2020 and misdemeanor arrests remain 40% lower.
Figure 9 displays misdemeanor and felony adult arrests for the two-year period.

Figure 8. Reported UCR Arrests January 2019 to December 2020
8,000

Number of Arrests

7,000

5,503

6,000
5,000

3,971

4,000

3,191
2,312

3,000

2,007

2,000

1,964

1,000
0

Dec-20

Nov-20

Oct-20

Sep-20

Aug-20

Jul-20

Jun-20

May-20

Apr-20

Mar-20

Feb-20

Jan-20

Dec-19

Nov-19

Oct-19

Sep-19

Aug-19

Jul-19

Jun-19

May-19

Apr-19

Mar-19

Feb-19

Jan-19

Tot al

......Violent ......Propert y

Jurisdictions included: Allegheny, Charleston, Cook, East Baton Rouge, Lake, Los Angeles (LAPD only), New Orleans, Pennington (NIBRS), San
Francisco, Spokane, St. Louis

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

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Figure 9. Total Arrests January 2019 to December 2020

Number of Arrests

25,000
20,000

16,955

15,000

11,214
9,865

10,000

• • • •

6,988

7,090

5,000

4,226
Dec-20

Nov-20

Oct-20

Sep-20

Aug-20

Jul-20

Jun-20

Apr-20

May-20

......

Mar-20

Jan-20

Misdemeanor

Feb-20

Dec-19

......

Nov-19

Oct-19

Tot al

Sep-19

......

Aug-19

Jul-19

Jun-19

May-19

Apr-19

Mar-19

Feb-19

Jan-19

0

Felony

Jurisdictions included: Allegheny, Charleston, Lake, Los Angeles (LAPD only), New Orleans, Pennington, San Francisco, Spokane

Jail Length of Stay
Another significant development impacting jail populations is the change in LOS pre- versus post-COVID19 (see Figure 2). Beginning in March 2020, across the eleven jurisdictions studied the LOS made a
sharp increase. Between January 2019 and February 2020, the average LOS for the jurisdictions
collectively was 48 days. This increased to 63 days in March 2020 and remained elevated through the
rest of 2020. The two reasons for increased LOS for those released from jail post COVID-19 are: (1)
reduced bookings for low-level offenses causing an increased proportion of jail bookings for more
serious felony charges that traditionally have longer LOS, and (2) a slowdown in court case processing.
Following a peak of 69 days in April 2020, jail LOS did begin to trend downward somewhat and averaged
59 days from October through December 2020. Examining case-level data for a smaller cohort of five
jurisdictions shows a similar trend. These data are shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Comparison of Releases (January 2019 - February 2020 v. April 2020 December 2020)
Release Reason
Monthly Average LOS
(days)
Bond/bail/ROR
Dismissed/court order
Time served/expired
Transfer to prison
Other

Pre-COVID-19
Average
Percent
LOS
of Total
(days)

Post-COVID-19
Average
Percent
LOS
of Total
(days)

38

48

42%
8%
9%
10%
31%

10
53
59
86
51

52%
8%
8%
7%
27%

14
85
101
97
56

Jurisdictions included: Allegheny, Charleston, East Baton Rouge, Lake, Pennington, and St. Louis

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

13

D. Changes in the Composition of the Jail Population
As jail populations declined, several of the key demographic and offense attributes have shifted.
Attributes of a subset of the jurisdictions examined are shown in Table 3. Specifically, populations have
become increasingly male, charged with felony and felony violent crimes, and are experiencing longer
LOS. This in part is expected as the people that used to be admitted to the jail for less serious crimes are
no longer being booked and/or are gaining release more easily. While LOS for those released has begun
to recover to pre-COVID-19 levels, the LOS for individuals sitting in jail continues to increase – reflecting
the impact of delayed court processing. Unless the slowdown in the processing of criminal cases for
detained defendants is mitigated, the jail population LOS could continue to rise. How soon a return to
“normalcy” occurs will depend on further delays in fully re-opening the courts and how soon COVID-19
restrictions on social and economic activities are removed.

Table 3. Comparison of Current Jail Population Attributes February 2020
v. December 2020
Attribute
Total
Length of Stay (days)
Gender
Female
Male
Legal Status
Pre-trial
Sentenced
Other
Primary Charge
Felony
Felony violent
Felony drug
Felony property
Felony other
Misdemeanor
Other

PreCOVID-19
24,429
184

PostCOVID-19
21,077
261

12%
88%

9%
91%

47%
47%
6%

46%
48%
6%

82%
42%
8%
18%
14%
8%
10%

87%
57%
4%
15%
13%
5%
8%

Jurisdictions included: Allegheny, East Baton Rouge, Lake, Los Angeles, Orleans, Pennington, Spokane, and St. Louis

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

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IV.

Conclusion

Data from this research showed that in all eleven jurisdictions there is a clear, consistent pattern of both
crime and jail populations declining in tandem with one another. The COVID-19 restrictions that served
to greatly restrict the U.S. economy and the traditional, “every day” social and economic
activities/transactions of the public served to lower crime rates, and in particular the crime of larcenytheft. Unemployment rose which, contrary to public opinion, is traditionally associated with lower, not
higher, crime rates.4 While this may seem counterintuitive, it is consistent with prior research.
Unemployment surged during and after the recent Great Recession (2008-2009); however, crime rates
continued to decline. Sociologists observed that when unemployment suddenly increases, people who
have led traditional law-abiding lives do not suddenly become criminals. Additionally, a downturn in the
economy curtails normal social activities, which reduces the opportunities for individuals to become
victimized. Lastly, lower inflation and interest rates can negate the short-term effects of unemployment.
5

With fewer people committing crimes, there were fewer arrests and fewer jail bookings, which lowered
the jail populations. At the same time, local jurisdictions were also implementing policies that were
designed to restrict the arrest and subsequent bookings of people charged with non-violent crimes. For
people who were detained, there were efforts to make it easier for defendants to be released by
lowering bail requirements or increasing the use of non-financial release mechanisms.
2020 saw a historic reduction of jail populations unlike any other in U.S. history. Never before have jail
populations declined so much in a such a short time frame. Our continued tracking of jurisdictions for
the nine months post COVID-19 demonstrated a small rebound off historic lows by the end of 2020.
Analysis suggests that the jail population reductions did not compromise public safety as measured by
the number of reported crimes and arrests. There are challenges ahead in keeping jail populations low,
namely maintaining lower arrests, jail bookings, and reducing the length of stay by expediting the
disposition of criminal cases. The response to COVID-19 has shown that such reforms are possible and
can safely reduce jails population but sustaining lower jail populations will require maintaining these
same reforms in some manner.

4

James Austin, Todd Clear, and Richard Rosenfeld. 2020. Explaining Past and Projecting Future Crime Rates. New
York, NY: The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. hfg.org/crime_forecasting.htm.
5
Rosenfeld, Richard, and Aaron Levin. 2016. Acquisitive crime and inflation in the United States: 1960 - 2012.
Journal of Quantitative Criminology 32: 427-447.

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Appendix
Jurisdiction
Allegheny County
Charleston County

East Baton Rouge Parish
Lake County
Los Angeles County
Orleans Parish
Pennington County
City and County of San Francisco
Spokane County

St. Louis County

Case Level Data Source
Allegheny County Courts
Charleston County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council
(Note: Data reported for Charleston contains raw/unofficial
numbers that are subject to change throughout the year as
cases are cleared. The only official numbers would come
from the FBI source.)
East Baton Rouge Criminal Justice Coordinating Council
Lake County Sheriff's Office
Los Angeles Sheriff's Office
City of New Orleans Criminal Justice Coordinating Council
Pennington County Sheriff's Office
San Francisco District Attorney's Office
Spokane County Regional Law and Justice Dept., Spokane
Police Department, and Spokane County Sheriff’s
Department
St. Louis SJC Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

Allegheny County Jurisdictions Reporting
Allegheny County District Attorney
Allegheny County Police Department
Allegheny County Sheriff
Allegheny County, Housing Auth
Allegheny Valley Regional PD
Animal Control MP, Municipal
Aspinwall Borough Police Department
Avalon Borough Police Department
Baldwin Police Department
Baldwin Township Police Department
Beaver PSP
Bedford PSP
Bell Acres Police Department
Belle Vernon PSP
Bellevue Borough Police Department
Bethel Park Police Department
Blawnox Borough Police Department
Brackenridge Borough Police Department
Braddock Hills Borough Police Department
Braddock, Borough of Police Department
Brentwood Borough Police Department
Bridgeville Borough Police Department

Moon Township Police Department
Mt Lebanon Police Department
Mt Oliver Borough Police Department
Munhall Police Department
N Braddock Borough Police Department
N Fayette Township Police Department
N Huntingdon Township Police Department
New Stanton PSP Turnpike
North Versailles Police Department
Northern Regional Police Department
Oakdale Police Department
Oakmont Borough Police Department
Office of Attorney General
O'hara Township Police Department
Ohio Township Police Department
PA Fish & Boat Comm, Southwest
PA State Police, Gaming Enforcement
Penn Hills Police Department
Penn State, University PD
Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General
Pitcairn Police Department
Pittsburgh Police Department

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

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Allegheny County Jurisdictions Reporting
Butler PSP
Carlow University PD
Carnegie Mellon, University PD
Carnegie Police Department
Castle Shannon Police Department
Chatham University Police Department
Churchill Borough Police Department
Clairton City Police Department
Collier Township Police Department
Connellsville Police Department
Coraopolis Borough Police Department
Crafton Borough Police Department
Cranberry Township Police Department
Crescent Township Police Department
Dormont Police Department
Duquesne Police Department
Duquesne, University PD
East Deer Township Police Department
East McKeesport Police Department
Edgewood Borough Police Department
Edgeworth Police Department
Elizabeth Borough Police Department
Elizabeth Township Police Department
Etna Police Department
Fawn Township Police Department
Findlay Township Police Department
Forest Hills Police Department
Forward Township Police Department
Fox Chapel Borough Police Department
Franklin Park Police Department
Frazer Township Pd Police Department
Game Commission, Southwest
Gibsonia PSP Turnpike
Glassport Police Department
Greensburg PSP
Greentree Police Department
Hampton Township Police Department
Harmar Township Police Department
Harrison Township Police Department
Heidelberg Borough Police Department
Highmark Health PD
Homestead Police Department
Indiana PSP
Indiana Township Police Department

Pittsburgh PSP
Pittsburgh School Police Department
Pleasant Hills Police Department
Plum Borough Police Department
Point Park University Police Department
Point State Park
Port Authority Police Department
Port Vue Police Department
PSP, Bur Criminal In
PSP, Emer & Special
Rankin Borough Police Department
Reserve Township Police Department
Robert Morris Police Department
Robinson Township Police Department
Ross Township Police Department
S Fayette Township Police Department
Scott Township Police Department
Sewickley Borough Police Department
Sewickley Heights Police Department
Shaler Police Department
Sharpsburg Borough Police Department
South Park Tn Police Department
Springdale Borough Police Department
St. Clair Hospital PD
St. Clair Hospital Police Department
Stowe Township Police Department
Swissvale Police Department
Tarentum Borough Police Department
Trafford Borough Police Department
Turtle Creek Police Department
Uniontown PSP
Univ Of Pittsburgh Police Department
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center PD
Upper St Clair Police Department
Verona Borough Police Department
Versailles Borough Police Department
Veterans Medical, Admin
Washington PSP
Waynesburg PSP
West Deer Township Police Department
West Homestead Police Department
West Mifflin Police Department
West View Borough Police Department

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

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Allegheny County Jurisdictions Reporting
Ingram Borough Police Department
Jefferson Hills Police Department
Kennedy Township Police Department
Kittanning PSP
Leet Township Police Department
Leetsdale Police Department
Liberty Borough Police Department
Lincoln Borough Police Department
Liquid Control Enforce, District
McCandless Police Department
McDonald Borough Police Department
McKees Rocks Police Department
McKeesport Police Department
Millvale Police Department
Monroeville Police Department

Whitaker Police Department
White Oak Borough Police Department
Whitehall Borough Police Department
Wilkins Township Police Department
Wilkinsburg Police Department

Charleston County Jurisdictions Reporting
(Note: Data reported for Charleston contains
raw/unofficial numbers that are subject to
change throughout the year as cases are
cleared. The only official numbers would
come from the FBI source.)
Charleston Police Department
Charleston County Sheriff's Office
Mount Pleasant Police Department
Cook County Jurisdictions Reporting
Chicago Police Department
East Baton Rouge Parish Jurisdictions Reporting
Baton Rouge Police Department
East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office
Los Angeles County Jurisdictions Reporting
Los Angeles Police Department
Orleans Parish Jurisdictions Reporting
New Orleans Police Department
Delgado Community College Police
Southern University A & M - New Orleans - Police
Department
Tulane University Police Department
University of New Orleans Police Department
Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

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Pennington County Jurisdictions Reporting
Pennington County Sheriff's Office
Rapid City Police Department
Box Elder Police Department
National Park Service
City and County of San Francisco Jurisdictions Reporting
San Francisco Police Department
San Francisco Sheriff’s Office
San Francisco District t Attorney’s Office
Spokane County Jurisdictions Reporting

Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (which does law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of
the county as well as the following incorporated towns/cities: Deer Park, Millwood, Latah,
Rockford, Fairfield, Waverly, Spangle, and Medical Lake)
Spokane Police Department
Spokane Valley Police Department
St. Louis County Jurisdictions Reporting
Ballwin Police Department
Bel Nor Police Department
Bel Ridge Police Department
Bella Villa Police Department
Bellefontaine Neighbors Police Department
Berkeley Police Department
Breckenridge Hills Police Department
Brentwood Police Department
Bridgeton Police Department
Calverton Park Police Department
Chesterfield Police Department
Clarkson Valley Police Department
Clayton Police Department
Country Club Hills Police Department
Crestwood Police Department
Creve Coeur Police Department
Des Peres DPS
Edmundson Police Department
Ellisville Police Department
Eureka Police Department
Ferguson Police Department
Flordell Hills Police Department
Florissant Police Department
Frontenac Police Department
Glendale Police Department

Lambert International Airport Police Department
Manchester Police Department
Maplewood Police Department
Maryland Heights Police Department
Moline Acres Police Department
Normandy Police Department
Northwoods Police Department
Oakland Police Department
Olivette Police Department
Overland Police Department
Pagedale Police Department
Richmond Heights Police Department
Riverview Police Department
Rock Hill Police Department
Shrewsbury Police Department
St Ann Police Department
St John Police Department
St Louis Community College Police Department
St Louis County Police Department
Sunset Hills Police Department
Town & Country Police Department
University City Police Department
University of Missouri - St Louis Police Department
Velda City Police Department
Vinita Park Police Department

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

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Hazelwood Police Department
Hillsdale Police Department
Kirkwood Police Department
Ladue Police Department
Lakeshire Police Department

Warson Woods Police Department
Washington University Police Department - St Louis
Webster Groves Police Department
Woodson Terrace Police Department

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

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This report was created with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation as part of the Safety and Justice Challenge which seeks to reduce overincarceration by changing the way America thinks about and uses jails. Core to the
challenge is a competition designed to support efforts to improve local criminal justice
systems across the country that are working to reduce over-reliance on jails, with a
particular focus on addressing disproportionate impact on low-income individuals and
communities of color.
More information is available at www.SafetyandJusticeChallenge.org

fi§il SAFETY+JUSTICE

l5L CHALLENGE

Supported by the John D. and Catherine T MacArthu r Fou ndation

The JFA Institute
Denver, CO ۰ Washington, D.C. ۰ Camden, SC

The Impact of COVID-19 on Crime, Arrests, and Jail Populations – An Expansion on the Preliminary Assessment

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