It appears there may be an upside in West Hollywood to the COVID-19 pandemic. That would be the dramatic decrease in serious crime.
According to Lt. William Moulder of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station, the number of Part 1 (serious) crimes in April was the lowest in the city’s history. The 82 crimes reported last month was a 55% decline from the 182 reported in April 2019. It also was eight fewer than the 90 serious crimes reported in March of this year.
Moulder noted that deputies are still hard at work. “Even with the “Safer at Home” order, and few people on the street, deputies still arrested 181 people for the month of April,” he said.
“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were easily approaching a 30% crime reduction, which is an incredible reduction in crime.”
The Safer at Home order has resulted in few people being on the streets. And many businesses that might have been vulnerable to theft are not only closed but boarded up to prevent break-ins. There also has been a dramatic reduction in tourists and visitors, some of whom were the victims of crimes.
Charts below from Crimemapping.com illustrate incidents of particular categories of crime reported from April 1 to April 20 in West Hollywood.
“an historic”? Yikes
Theft is not always reported to the police. Packages have been taken from my building, and recently a piece of lobby furniture. So I think the numbers are off. I also see more crime reported on Nextdoor. There is a couple going around stealing all over the Weho area.
“a dramatic reduction in tourists and visitors, some of whom were the victims of crimes.”……..yeah, and some of those “visitors” and “tourists” were the ones committing the crimes, but that’s not mentioned.
Yes, a return to what one might consider acceptable. Now if the city can rebuild an economic engine respecting higher values than were previously tolerated, we may be on a small path towards recovery in more holistic fashion. This city does not need to be a financial vehicle for those simply interested in cashing in or cashing out.