Highlights
Most offenders are drug and alcohol dependant. Eighty percent of state inmates have considerable drug histories.
Add mental health concerns, and we come to the conclusion that the majority of offenders are clinically affected.
“I think that for our most violent offenders, this pandemic has not changed their behavior at all,” said D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham.”
Author
Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.
Retired federal senior spokesperson. Thirty-five years of award-winning public relations for national and state criminal justice agencies. Interviewed multiple times by every national news outlet. Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for the Department of Justice’s clearinghouse. Former Director of Information Services, National Crime Prevention Council. Former Adjunct Associate Professor of criminology and public affairs-University of Maryland, University College. Former advisor to presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. Former advisor to the “McGruff-Take a Bite Out of Crime” national media campaign. Certificate of Advanced Study-Johns Hopkins University. Aspiring drummer.
Facebook Quotes
It’s not the Coronavirus that’s scary. It’s how brainwashed & easily manipulated the masses of people can become.
We are dealing with two contagions — the virus itself and the emotions it generates.
Editor’s Note
All citations are direct quotes, possibly rearranged for the sake of brevity.
UK and foreign media outlets use UK and foreign spellings.
Article
There are reports that illicit drug markets are greatly compromised by the Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic and social restrictions. That means that addicted offenders and their dealers are either working off current supplies or they are running low or they are out of drugs altogether.
Data from the US Department of Justice state that the majority of criminal offenders are frequent or dependant drug users. There is state data indicating that a minimum of eighty percent of inmates have histories of significant use or drug dependence.
I interviewed former addicts for a television show on drug use who told me that tainted drugs laced with poison were once discarded by dealers fleeing law enforcement. Washington D.C. police alerted the community to the danger. That night, addicts in the area searched for the drugs. That’s the definition of addiction; risking your life for a free high.
Yes, drug use is not a straight forward proposition and there are endless degrees of dependency. I spoke to offenders who claimed to take months-long vacations from drug use for a variety of reasons.
But there are tens of thousands of addicted offenders who struggle to deal with day to day life without drugs. Add considerable mental health issues, and the pandemic may be creating a potential growing storm of interpersonal or stranger-to-stranger violence.
Crime During The COVID-19 Pandemic
Crime during the Coronavirus era is moderate or declining with several exceptions in cities with existing violent crime problems. Baltimore, New York (increased homicides), Chicago, Washington, D.C., St Louis, Jacksonville, and other cities are reporting increases in violence while most cities show moderate or decreased crime.
“I think that for our most violent offenders, this pandemic has not changed their behavior at all,” said D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham.”
“When the pandemic is over, I’m guessing the criminals will be going back to work as soon as the rest of us do.”
“The violence will start up again,” Coronavirus And Crime.
Drug Traffickers Having Problems With Distribution
Jesús is a drug trafficker allied with the Sinaloa cartel. Last week, he and other traffickers received a WhatsApp message from the cartel’s top boss, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who declared that wholesale prices were going to increase for methamphetamine.
“Mayo sent this announcement saying, ‘Everyone is going to sell a pound of crystal for 15,000 pesos ($600) from now on because of the shortage. Before that, it was 2,500 pesos ($100),” said Jesús, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The message also said, ‘If you don’t obey, pay attention to the consequences.’ ”The stated reason for the sixfold price hike is the novel coronavirus pandemic. The cartel supply chain is complex and international.
The raw chemical ingredients used for manufacturing methamphetamine and fentanyl are mainly sourced from China, the epicentre of the outbreak. In a recent interview with VICE News, Jesús said his “cooks” were already running low on some of the essential materials used in the drug manufacturing process, VICE.
The Sicilian mafia and the Calabria-based Ndrangheta smuggle drugs on cargo vessels but with lockdowns across Europe and police monitoring people’s movements, it has become harder to get them picked up at the other end, said the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Meanwhile, New York’s five Mafia crime families are said to be suffering the biggest “hit” in their bloody histories, Express-UK.
A disruption in the world’s illegal drug market will have a profound effect on supply and price and could lead to a rise in crime. The price of drugs is on the rise as the Government’s coronavirus lockdown measures have lead to fewer dealers selling drugs on the street, Standard-UK.
Mexico
A major shootout between rival drug gangs has killed 19 people in the northern Mexico border state of Chihuahua, officials say. The state prosecutors’ office said on Saturday that 18 corpses, two grenades, vehicles and guns were found at the scene of the clash in the hamlet of Chuchuichupa the township of Madera, The Guardian-UK.
A quarantine, with strict restraining measures, would result in fewer people in the streets, hence fewer robberies, probably fewer murders and burglaries; but when the social isolation ends, violence will undoubtedly return, Mexico-InternationalBusinessTimes.
Drug Treatment Compromised
Helping patients stay in recovery from opioid addiction never was easy, and the coronavirus crisis is making it harder. Addiction treatment clinics are expanding hours, hiring staff to take people’s temperatures, providing home delivery and curbside pickup for medication, and revamping procedures to limit human contact, reports Stateline.
Without more money, the cost of retooling services could put some providers out of business. At West Midtown Medical Group, a Manhattan methadone clinic, the business of providing 900 patients a daily cup of lifesaving medicine has been upended. Allegra Schorr, a clinic owner, says, “We’re trying to keep our patients in treatment and protect them from overdose. It’s a balancing act, and it’s extremely challenging.”
Drug And Alcohol Use
The vast majority of offenders use drugs and alcohol, and most have mental health issues based on self-reports and a formal diagnosis, see Mental Health.
According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 86.4 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime; 70.1 percent reported that they drank in the past year; 56.0 percent reported that they drank in the past month.
26.9 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the past month in 2015, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse.
It’s been our experience that the majority of offenders abuse alcohol. Historically (and criminologically), alcohol is strongly connected to violent crime.
Anywhere from 56 percent (Charlotte) to 82 percent (Chicago) of arrestees across sites tested positive for the presence of some substance at the time of arrest. In 9 out of the 10 sites in 2009, 60 percent or more of arrestees tested positive, see ADAM and Drug Use at Arrest.
More than half (58%) of state prisoners and two-thirds (63%) of sentenced jail inmates met the criteria for drug dependence or abuse, according to data collected through the National Inmate Surveys (NIS). In comparison, approximately 5% of the total general population age 18 or older met the criteria for drug dependence or abuse.
Note that surveys of inmates are generally undercounts. State data puts the figure closer to eighty percent.
Among prisoners who met the criteria for drug dependence or abuse, there was no difference in the percentage incarcerated for violent offenses (54%), DWI/DUI offenses (55%), or other public order offenses (55%). Among jail inmates, 45% of those incarcerated for DWI/DUI and 51% for public order offenses met the criteria.
An estimated 81% of persons in prisons and 84% of those in jail reported ever using any drug in their lifetime. These percentages were virtually unchanged from the 83% of prisoners (based on 2004 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities) and 85% of sentenced jail inmates (based on 2002 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails) reported ever using drugs.
Fewer than a third of inmates who met the criteria for drug dependence or abuse received drug treatment or participated in a program.
Source
Bureau of Justice Statistics-Drug Use
Conclusions
Crime during the Coronavirus pandemic is moderate or has decreased in most American cities with growing exceptions for violence, domestic and family violence, commercial burglaries, car theft, and larcenies.
The vast majority of offenders have histories of drug use or dependence, and most have histories of mental health problems, Mental Health. Add the lack of availability or considerable price increases or compromised drug treatment, together, it collectively could have an impact on violent crime.
Numerous media sources are already documenting increases in domestic violence and child abuse.
If addicted or drug dependant or mentally ill criminal offenders go without their substances, it could create very difficult days ahead for families, children, law enforcement and citizens in general.
Previous Coronavirus-COVID-19 Articles
Coronavirus Updates-Coughing On Cops-Interrupted Drugs-Testing Meth-Don’t Commit Crime-Help From DOJ
Coronavirus And Crime-Looting-Drug Crisis-Foreign Prisons Erupting
Coronavirus-Violence And Crime Will Undoubtedly Return
Coronavirus Jails And Prisons-Will Correctional Officers Stay?
The Coronavirus, Crime And Law Enforcement Responses
The Coronavirus, Law Enforcement, Corrections And Crime
Corona Virus and Emergency Response
Violent Crime Beats Coronavirus As The Number One Issue
See More
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National Offender Recidivism Rates at Offender Recidivism.
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