The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the whole world upside down, affecting everyone. Now if that was not enough, recent investigations show that the current pandemic has resulted in a substantial increase in the crime rate in major US cities. Among others, crimes like murder, theft, burglary and gun violence have been the top trending. Even though the murder rates when compared to the same time last year are more this year, experts are still unsure on how to connect the increase in these rates with the global pandemic.

According to studies, New York is witnessing the highest rate of gun violence during the last 25 years and the murder rate has risen by 4.1% compared to last year. This a serious matter for concern and experts are still drawing lines of comparison with the pandemic. If it isn’t controlled immediately, it might increase. Starting from June, homicides saw an increase of 250 percent in Los Angeles alone over Independence Day weekend, while Chicago witnessed 14 murders with 106 people being shot. These same cities are witnessing a rise in burglary and theft as well.

Mass shootings were reported between 3rd and 5th July that resulted in 160 people murdered and around 500 wounded. With the rise in murder, other crimes are growing as well as if the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t enough for governments to focus on.

Whether the increase in murder rates can be connected to the global pandemic or not, the rise still poses a major concern for the government. Apart from taking care and making sure that the danger posed by corona virus doesn’t increase further, the government now has to take preventive measures to control these murders as well. The entire world is facing a crisis situation where everyone is affected, the rise in murder rates increases the stress to those who are trying to remain unaffected by the global pandemic.

However, contrary to the increase in crime rates in the major US cities, the overall crime has decreased in other parts of the world. The logic behind this being that all around the world, governments imposed lockdown and stay at home orders. This affected commutes, day to day routine and leisure activities, and this meant that as people were not leaving the safety of their homes, the crime rates in those areas decreased, which is just a little ray of sunshine in these testing times.