Coronavirus Lockdown: No Homicide In Miami For 7 Weeks, A First In 63 Years

The Miami Police Department reportedly made a new record during the coronavirus lockdown as it saw no homicide for seven weeks.

The last time this streak happened was 63 years ago when Miami didn't have any murder reports for 9 weeks and three days. It also happened in 1960 for a period of six weeks and five days.

"We can say that it's due to our police high visibility, attributed with the pandemic and the stay-at-home order," a Miami police spokesperson told CBS News. The spokesperson also said that other crimes plunged, such as burglaries, thefts, assault, and sex offenses, including a decrease in domestic violence reports.

However, the peaceful period actually began in Feb. 17, some three weeks before Miami Mayor Francis Suarez placed the city under a state of emergency and imposed stay-at-home orders. The streak ended on April 12 following the shooting of a woman whose boyfriend was involved in a sneakers transaction.

"[The streak] started in mid-February, well before anyone was locked down," Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina told Miami Herald. "Why? Honestly, I don’t know. I’m just grateful it continues to go down the way it has.”

Miami Deputy Police Chief Ron Papier is not certain, however, if crimes have dropped due to the lockdown orders or if fewer people are reporting these. Colina is concerned that domestic violence and crimes against children may be underreported due to the lockdown.

"Right now, we can’t really tell if it’s a continuation of the trend or the pandemic,” Papier said. “We had a great start to the year. Certainly, there’s a correlation to the pandemic, but we can’t say for sure just how much.”

Crimes in other cities also dropped compared to last year because of the stay-at-home orders. CBS News, however, reports that robberies and shootings in Chicago have actually increased by 42 percent despite the lockdown.

"We're fighting the pandemic, and we're fighting the epidemic," Tony Raggs, of the Alliance of Local Service Organizations, said. "The epidemic being violence."