BUFFALO, N.Y. — Crime is way down in the City Of Buffalo since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared.
The number of daily arrests before the pandemic typically exceeded 20 a day, including a recent high of 37 on March 6. Arrests since Thursday have ranged from two to eight a day.
Police say there’s one primary reason for the drop: businesses, which can be a magnet for criminal activity, have mostly closed.
“A lot of commerce has stopped,” said Captain Jeff Rinaldo. “A lot of crime occurs around commerce. If you don’t have commerce, you don’t have crime.”
