Residential Time Spent and Homicide during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The United States has experienced a significant spike in homicide numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic (NCHS, 2021). While there are several arguments to explain the recent surge in homicides, this study explores to what extent changes in human mobility due to stay-at-home and social distancing measures explain the differences in homicide incidents. We conducted a fixed effect Poisson regression analysis using panel data (day of the week and week) from Chicago between February 2020 and July 2021. We found that more time spent in residential places significantly reduces the incidences of homicides that happened in residential and non-residential places.
Keywords: Homicide, COVID-19, stay-at-home orders, routine activity, Chicago