SAN JOSE — Reported crimes dropped significantly in the Bay Area’s largest city last week, in yet another sign of the dramatic ways that the coronavirus pandemic — and social distancing mandates aimed at stopping its spread — have changed life in the region and statewide.
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 20: San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia and Mayor Sam Liccardo stress the need for residents to adhere to the stay-at-home order or face firmer enforcement during a press conference in San Jose, Calif., Friday, March 20, 2020. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Data from the San Jose Police Department, obtained by this news organization Monday, shows that in the week after six counties implemented a sweeping shelter-in-place order, violent crime in the city declined by 46%, falling from 101 reported cases to 56 cases in the week of March 15-21, compared to the same week the previous year. The county’s stay-at home order went into effect at 12 a.m. on March 17.
Reported property crimes were down as well, from 495 cases to 317 over the same period. The declines were seen across a range of reported categories, including aggravated assaults, robberies, burglaries and auto thefts.
The decline was not unexpected, officials said — with far fewer people out in the city, far fewer opportunities exist for serious crime to occur. Police and city leaders acknowledge that the numbers could mask upticks in under-reported crimes like domestic violence and sexual assault,
Nevertheless, San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo were nevertheless heartened by the figures — not least because they suggest residents are taking the county’s shelter-in-place order seriously.
“This demonstrates that our community is heeding the public health imperative of staying home,” Liccardo said. “It tells us the community gets it about the safety risks.”
Other Bay Area cities that were able to provide figures Monday also saw declines in crime, though to varying degrees. In Santa Clara, where weekly incidents typically number in the single digits for most types of crime, saw those numbers fall below five cases in most categories during the first week of the shelter-in-place order. That included a sharp drop in reported larcenies compared to the same period in 2019, from 72 to four. A weekly crime report from Oakland for the week also showed a dip in violent crime compared to the year prior, from 91 reported incidents to 79, though property crimes ticked up 2%, from 167 incidents to 171. Palo Alto and Mountain View also showed modest declines in reported crimes during the first stay-at-home week.
The declines came as police departments across the region were suddenly tasked with enforcing the shelter-in-place orders, including making sure that all but essential businesses closed their doors, and that those who did venture out in public followed social distancing rules requiring them to stay six feet apart. In San Jose, after several days of encouraging “voluntary compliance” with the shelter-in-place restrictions, officials indicated Friday they would take a firmer hand in enforcing the new rules, including setting up a hotline for residents to report businesses that stay open in defiance of the statewide shutdown.
Though the county’s response to the coronavirus is still in its early stages, Garcia said his officers are up to the task, “taking on everything we’re throwing at them,” including the risk of being exposed to the new coronavirus while continuing to patrol the city.
Still with the shelter-in-place order expected to last at least three weeks — and possibly longer — Liccardo.noted that its effects on people, and poorer residents in particular, “creates a whole new set of challenges” for the city.
“What I’m intensely concerned about is a pandemic that will have both severe health impacts as well as economic impacts on our most vulnerable residents,” he said.
