While masks are meant to protect from the CCP virus, they may be allowing a new danger into daily life.
Masked crime in Los Angeles is 5 times higher compared to last year.
According to the LA Police Department, over 1,100 criminal incidents involved suspects wearing masks from January to October in 2020. For that same time last year, there were 200 cases involving masked individuals.
The LA-based non-profit Crosstown documented the dramatic increase.
The rise in masked crime came with public health mandates that began last March. As businesses were ordered to close, masked crime shot up sevenfold by April. Similar crime incidents peaked at over nine times the previous year in June.
Neighborhoods like Hollywood have seen 27 cases of masked crime from January to October. There were no incidents of masked crime in Hollywood for that same time last year.
However, crime in LA overall has decreased since 2019, according to LAPD data.
Crosstown noted that police data distinguishes between face masks and ski masks. Face masks are used for health reasons, while ski-masks are whole head coverings.
The LAPD data showed that 27 percent of the masked crimes involved burglary. 22 percent involved robbery or attempted robbery. Almost 11 percent involved assault.
On Nov. 16, the California Department of Public Health wrote: “people in California must wear face coverings when they are outside of the home,” with several exceptions.
With more strict mandates, mask crime may remain above average.
