The coronavirus isn’t shutting down crime. In fact, 2020 saw changes in crime statistics nationwide as well as locally. In Corvallis, nearly across the board, every type of crime has seen either an increase or decrease by at least 7%.
Here are the numbers for Corvallis:
Aggravated assault +92% (44 more cases)
The number of aggravated assaults nearly doubled from 2019 to 2020 with an increase from 48 to 92 or approximately 92%. The city of Corvallis generally has seen about 47 assaults each year from 2012 through 2019.
Arson +50% (10 more cases)
With ten more arsons in 2020, the total number of cases came to 30. This represents an increase of 50%.
Burglary +20% (42 more cases)
The number of burglaries in 2020 was up 20% from 2019. The city averages 222 burglaries a year, and saw only 248 in 2020. Record low levels occurred in 2017 and 2018 with cases numbering 170 and 185 respectively.
Disorderly Conduct +38% (193 more cases)
If we were considering the number of cases between 2018 and 2020, the increase would be a mere 2%. Were we looking at 2017, there would be fewer cases in 2020 – a decrease of 5% from 743 to 704. Apparently 2019 was simply more orderly. The city of Corvallis averages 483 disorderly conduct case per year for the last nine years.
Drug Offenses +48% (108 more cases)
The 300-case barrier was broken for drug offenses in 2020. In the eight years prior, there were fewer than 250 case from 2012 through 2019. The year 2020 brought in 332 cases and an increase of nearly 48%.
Driving Under the Influence (DUII) +37% (28 more cases)
Over the previous six years, the number of DUII cases in Corvallis has consistently gone down – from the 122 in 2015 to the 77 in 2019. The 37% jump to 105 cases in 2020 is, one would hope, an aberration.
Forgery / Fraud +7% (28 more cases)
Forgery and fraud broke the 400-barrier. In the eight years preceding it, there were about 323 case; the next highest year being 2016 at 380 cases. With 405 cases of forgery or fraud in 2020, we have an increase of about 7%.
Kidnapping +50% (2 more cases)
With an increase of 50% in kidnappings from 2019 to 2020 it might seem to be a scary time in Corvallis. However, there were only 4 cases in 2019 and 6 in 2020. The city averages between three to eight in any given year.
Larceny +7% (131 more cases)
A general favorite, larceny was high at 1,800 cases in 2012. Cases decreased in 2013 to 1,587 only to then pop back up in 2014 to 1,738. In the years 2015, 2016, and 2017, larceny cases were low at 1,530, 1,511, and 1,442 respectively. Then came up again in 2018, 2019, and 2020 to 1,824, 1,768, and 1,899 cases. So, while a 7% increase seems minor, the numbers represent the most common crime in the city.
Liquor Law Offenses +15% (30 more cases)
While Corvallis saw a nearly 15% increase in these offenses, that increase only represents 30 more cases in 2020 from 2019. The number of these types of crimes has been primarily decreasing from the high of 544 set in 2013.
Motor Vehicle Theft +39% (30 more cases)
Higher than could be hoped for, this increase represents 108 instances of motor vehicle theft in 2020. A significant jump from the average of 76 thefts over the previous four years.
Murder (negligible)
While there were three murders in Corvallis in 2017, on the average there are zero each year. 2020 was the same as 2019 and 2018 with no murders.
Other Assault +11% (61 more cases)
In an average year, there are about 503 assaults in Corvallis. The lowest number in the data from Corvallis Police was from 2013 with 329 assaults. 2020 saw 615 cases, an 11% increase from 2019’s 554 cases.
Prostitution (negligible)
Prostitution isn’t generally a problem here. In 2013, there were nine cases, but that was probably the height of the issue. The year 2020 saw an increase from 2019 of one more case – taking us from two to three.
Rape -25% (4 fewer cases)
The number of rape arrests in Corvallis hit a high of 30 in 2015. From 16 in 2019 to 12 in 2020, this crime saw a decrease of 25%.
Robbery +8% (2 more cases)
The number of robberies in the city was 26 for 2020. This represents an increase of 8% from the 24 in 2019.
Runaway Juvenile -57.5% (69 fewer cases)
Juvenile runaways decreased from 120 in 2019 to 51 in 2020. In an average year, 78 young people run away in the city, with 2016 seeing a significantly lower number at only 32.
Sex Offenses +17% (13 more cases)
Passing the 90-case mark, 2020 saw 91 sex offenses after 78 cases in 2019. Including this 17% increase, the average number of cases in Corvallis each year is 77.
Trespass/Prowler -35% (451 fewer cases)
There was a drop of 35% in the number of trespasser or prowler cases in the city – from 1,291 in 2019 to 840 in 2020. This decrease was a continuation of the drop between 2018 and 2019 when there were 1,493 and 1,291 cases respectively – a 13.5% difference.
Vandalism / Criminal Mischief –7% (66 fewer cases)
With 893 cases of vandalism or criminal mischief in 2020, the city saw a decrease of 7% from the 959 cases in 2019. Over the last nine years, there have been an average of 845 cases.
Weapons Laws +63% (31 more cases)
One of the largest jumps percentagewise – second only to aggravated assault – the number of weapons law charges went up by 63% from 2019 to 2020. Fortunately, that increase was only from 49 cases in 2019 to 80 cases in 2020.
What CPD Says
Speaking to Lt. Ryan Eaton of the Corvallis Police Department about the large increase in DUII arrests, he said it likely has little to do with an increase in drinking. Higher staffing at CPD through funding from the Public Safety Fund may account for the additional arrests. In terms of the “COVID effect,” there might be an equal number of people imbibing with fewer options for ride sharing – that leads to more driving under the influence and could contribute to the higher number of cases.
Equally interesting are the significant decreases in runaways and trespassing charges.
While it could be supposed that the decrease in runaways directly relates to juveniles being more monitored by their parents, on average there were only 60 runaways per year for 2012 through 2016. The 51 cases in 2020 fits into that average. Eaton said that the more pressing question is about what happened in 2017 through 2019 when the average was 108 runaways per year – the highest being in 2019 with 120 cases.
Eaton said that when we look at trespass, we’re looking at businesses rather than homes. This puts the decrease in cases into a direct effect of COVID-19. With many businesses having to close their doors, even temporarily, the likelihood of a person causing problems has been minimized.
When asked how COVID-19 is affecting these numbers overall, Eaton said that while these changes could be the regular progression of crime for the Corvallis area, we can’t know that until we see what happens post-COVID. As we leave the pandemic behind us, hopefully soon, we will see if these changes remain.
One complication for law enforcement under the pandemic is masking requirements. Cameras are often a helpful tool for identifying suspects, but that’s harder when everyone is wearing a mask because of the coronavirus. However, Eaton said CPD’s ability to investigate and make arrests hasn’t been diminished by the prevalence of masks, noting the use of social media and other identification techniques to catch suspects such as tracking clothing, vehicles and conspicuous traits. With coronavirus precautions limiting jail populations, it’s not as likely for those facing lesser crimes to be held. Whether or not that leads to more criminal activity is up for speculation.
Lt. Jeremy Jewell, Benton County Sheriff’s Office, said jail size has always been an issue locally. The facility, which holds a maximum of 50 people, was routinely at capacity prior to the pandemic. Because of COVID-19, BCSO moved to protect inmates, evaluating intake procedures and restricting arrest intakes to “person-to-person” and felony crimes only.
Nationwide Crime Increases
According to VOX, crime rates among 21 U.S. cities have increased sharply through 2019 and the first part of 2020. Murder was up 15% nationwide for the first half of 2020 and up 36% by the end of 2020.
Some believe the cause of these increases lies in the killing of George Floyd, the subsequent protests, followed by the deaths of other Black individuals like Breonna Taylor, which led to police officers being diverted from their duties to the community at large. Others feel that the confinement of the public due to the pandemic has increased tensions, leading people to act out.
Add to this, the American public has been purchasing more guns. In March of 2020, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System carried out approximately 3.7 million background checks. This represents a 12% increase from the last record setting month – December of 2015 when 3.3 million checks were completed.
Tracey Meares of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School told Vox, “The current year, 2020, is an extreme deviation from baseline – extreme.”
Closer to home, Portland faced its most violent time in 27 years. A total of 52 people were killed in the city in 2020. The deaths came from 858 shootings in which 224 people were hit by bullets. In just the week ending Dec. 18, five people were killed.
By Sally K Lehman & Cody Mann
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