COVID-19 has changed the criminal legal system
During the pandemic, the criminal legal system has operated completely differently than it normally does. We have indicated this by marking areas during the pandemic in red. The changes that can be observed on our dashboard include: 1) isolation, closed schools, and the loss of community programming has led to an increase in serious violent crime, 2) police have made fewer arrests overall (in particular for minor offenses), 3) court policies and other restrictions meant to keep people safe have also disrupted or delayed court hearings and led to a significant increase in open cases forced dismissals and withdrawals. See our report on the justice system during COVID-19 to learn more.
This is a Year-to-Date (YTD) report
This report is intended to allow for year-to-year comparisons and only shows data through January 19 for each year. Early in the year, when few cases have been processed, any given number could be anomalously high or low. To view year-end numbers, please refer to the Year-End reports in the Reports menu at the top of this page.