The City of Angels saw a stark drop in overall crimes by 12% as the city ordinance of “stay at home orders” to battle COVID-19 pandemic began in March of 2020. However, not all crimes have been trending in a downward spiral. Violent crimes such as homicides have skyrocketed during the onset of the pandemic and have outpaced other violent crime rates. Where homicides are up nearly 36% and aggravated assault has increased by more than 5%. The only other outlier is car theft, which has risen over 35% this year, compared to 2019 data.

From January 2020 to December 2020, low-income (minority) communities in Los Angeles County saw crime rates increase as COVID-19 infection rates increased. Neighborhoods such as Vermont Vista, Broadway-Manchester, Harvard Park, and Chesterfield Square, all located in South Central LA, were the ones that experienced the highest infection rates and a higher rate of violent crimes. Of the total homicides reported in 2020, 46% were Hispanic, and 37% were Black. While the race with a higher mortality rate was Hispanics with 235 deaths per 100k; and Blacks/African Americans with 139 deaths per 100k.