Colorado Sheriffs Asked Criminals to 'Stop' for the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic was an undeniable nightmare. Between the lockdowns and all the havoc that ended up wreaking, not to mention the effects we're still recovering from to this day, it's safe to say we were all about ready to crack by the time restrictions starting easing. And it could have been worse.

For more reasons than I care to think about at this particular moment, COVID lockdowns brought with them the added benefit of a slightly lowered crime rate. While a lot of that was due to significantly fewer people being out and about, I've come across a story I managed to miss that may tell a different tale.

The Power of Politeness

Below, what you will see is a post from the Logan County Sheriff's Office Facebook page in March of 2020. This would be shortly after the pandemic officially made it to our shores. In what I can only assume was born from the funniest moment around that particular water cooler, the Sheriff's Office politely asks for, "...all criminal activities/nefarious conduct to cease until further notice."

Facebook/Logan County Sheriff's Office - Colorado

That's how you know this was a group effort, by the by. Nobody uses the word 'nefarious' on accident. They followed it up by thanking the criminals for complying with the request, which I thought was just the classiest of moves. Yeah, it's their job to catch criminals, but there's no reason to be rude about it!

Did it work?

Turns out, criminals were happy to take a vacation from their lives of ill-repute! At least, they were if recent statistics and trends are to be believed. According to Colorado Crime Stats, Logan County reported a 3-year high of violent crime in 2019, with 38 incidents reported. This was up significantly when compared to 2018 and 2017, which respectively reported 16 and 10 violent crimes for the year.

Once the pandemic was in full-swing in 2020, there was a 13-point drop, down to 25 reports of violent crime for the year. The number of reports dropped further the following year, down to 22 in 2021. Not that these numbers were crazy-high to begin with, but when compared to the rate in 2019, you can clearly see the downward trend.

To be clear, a pandemic isn't exactly a great, long-term tactic for fighting crime. But, while we all WERE at home, it was nice that the Hamburgler crowd decided to stay home, too. One less thing to worry about during a time when we were worried about everything. Logan County residents might as well thank their Sheriff's Office for at least a little of that peace of mind.