The pandemic did not interrupt LA’s violence interrupters

Bibliographic Data

ID12936703
AuthorsJiaoying Ren (corresponding author), Karina Santoso (University of California, Los Angeles), David Hyde (0009-0004-4950-5533, Vanderbilt University), Andrea L Bertozzi (0000-0003-0396-7391, University of California, Los Angeles), P Jeffrey Brantingham (0000-0003-1079-0053, University of California, Los Angeles)
Year2022
Volume15
Issue4
Pages312-327
Publication date2022-12-16
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Aggression Conflict and Peace Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1759-6599 • E-ISSN: 2042-8715
PublisherEmerald Publishing Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1108/jacpr-10-2022-0745
OpenAlexW4313320953
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited28

Purpose The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on crime has been highly variable. One possible source of variation runs indirectly through the impact that the pandemic had on groups tasked with preventing and responding to crime. Here, this paper aims to examine the impact of the pandemic on the activities undertaken by front-line workers in the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD). Design/methodology/approach The authors use both autoregressive integrated moving average modeling and a regression-based event study design to identify changes in GRYD Community Intervention Worker proactive peacemaking and violence interruption activities induced by the onset of the City of Los Angeles “safter-at-home” lockdown. Findings Analyses show that the proactive peacemaking and violence interruption activities either remained stable or increased with the onset of the lockdown. Originality/value While the City of Los Angeles exempted GRYD’s Community Intervention Workers from lockdown restrictions, there was no guarantee that proactive peacemaking and violence interruption activities would continue unchanged. The authors conclude that these vital functions were indeed resilient in the face of major disruptions to daily life presented by the pandemic. However, the causal connection between stability in Community Intervention Worker activities and gang-related crime remains to be evaluated

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Criminology · Intervention (counseling · Originality · Pandemic · Peacemaking · Political science · Sociology · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology