Pandemic leads to decreases in crimes of all kinds in Quincy Police Department report

QUINCY — Crime of all kinds decreased in Quincy during 2020, and the likely reason was the COVID-19 pandemic.

An annual report provided by the Quincy Police Department shows violent crimes in Quincy — which cover murder, criminal sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault and battery — dropped 18.9 percent (from 243 in 2019 to 197 in 2020). It was the second consecutive year that figure dropped, with 253 violent crimes reported in 2018.

Property crimes — which cover burglaries, thefts, arson and motor vehicle thefts — dropped 6 percent (from 1,216 in 2019 to 1,143 to 2020). It also was the second consecutive year that figure dropped, with 1,291 property crimes reported in 2018.

“The majority of our statistics are down from previous years,” Chief Rob Copley wrote in a letter to “the citizens of Quincy, mayor, members of the City Council, and the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners” that was included in a packet information given to aldermen before the Aug. 30 City Council meeting.

“I believe that (the decline) is directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We did ask officers to conduct less self-initiated activity that was not related to life/safety issues so as to lessen contact with potential COVID carriers. It also appears there were less people traveling about and frequenting some establishments, which would have reduced calls for service, traffic crashes, and crimes.”

Property Crimes

Violent Crimes

Only one murder was reported in Quincy in 2020, down from three in 2019. Criminal sexual assaults declined 35.1 percent (from 54 in 2019 to 35 in 2020). Aggravated assaults/batteries dropped 15.5 percent (from 174 in 2019 to 147 in 2020). The only violent crime that rose was robberies, going from 12 in 2019 to 14 in 2020.

Burglaries dipped 31.4 percent, from 191 in 2019 to 131 in 2020. Thefts declined just 2 percent, from 977 in 2019 to 956 in 2020. The number of arsons nearly doubled from 6 to 11, and the number of motor vehicle thefts rose 7.1 percent (from 42 in 2019 to 45 in 2020).

The number of service calls made by Quincy police officers dropped 22.3 percent, from 35,879 in 2019 to 27,890. 

Fewer crimes were committed because fewer people were on the road. The number of accidents fell 22.9 percent, from 1,126 in 2019 and 868 in 2020. The number of injuries suffered in traffic accidents fell 52.2 percent, from 249 in 2019 to 119 in 2020. However, six traffic fatalities were recorded in 2020, compared to just one in 2019. 

The intersection of 30th and Broadway had the most accidents with 24 in 2020 — down from 39 in 2019. The intersection of 30th and Broadway had the second most accidents with 19 in 2020 — down from 16 in 2019.

Third and Maine saw the largest increase, going from 7 in 2019 to 10 in 2020.

Traffic crashes

Intersections with 10 or more accidents

Seatbelt warnings dropped 80 percent (from 99 to 19) and seatbelt citations dropped 80.8 percent (from 250 to 48). Speeding warnings dropped 77.2 percent (from 654 to 149), and speeding citations dropped 90.4 percent (from 785 to 73). DUI arrests dropped 39.4 percent from 94 in 2019 to 57 in 2020.

The decrease in citations also led to a decrease in revenues for the fiscal year of 2019, which ran from May 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020. Revenues are generated from the fines and penalties paid by those arrested and either plea or were found guilty of their violations. Total revenues dropped 24.8 percent, from $467,327 in 2019-2020 to $351,519 in 2020-21. The largest chunk of that loss was in ordinance violations, which fell from $414,648 in 2019-20 to $319,418 in 2020-21.

Traffic stops dropped from 3,397 in 2019 to 995 in 2020 — a 71.9 percent decrease. White people were stopped 803 times, an 73.2 percent drop from 2,991 in 2019. Minorities were stopped 152 times, a drop of 37.4 percent from 406 in 2019. Whites were stopped in 84.1 percent of all traffic stops in 2020.

Drug arrests

Drug arrests, which are separate from the crime index, dropped 39.7 percent from 299 in 2019 to 180 in 2020. Methamphetamine arrests dropped from 170 to 124 (down 27.1 percent). Controlled substance arrests increased 24.1 percent from 29 in 2019 to 36 in 2020.

Officer J.D. Summers was selected as the Employee of the Year, who is selected from the 12 employees selected as the Employee of the Month.

Copley noted the highlight of the year was moving from the basement of City Hall to the new Law Enforcement/Jail Complex at 530 Broadway.

“The move went well,” Copley wrote in his letter. “The new facility has been working out very well for us.”