Coronavirus leads to unexpected crime drop

ZANESVILE, Ohio- Since the arrival of COVID-19 there has been a marked decrease in reported crime in Muskingum county. 

Sheriff Matt Lutz has said that since the virus has started its spread there has been a noticeable decrease in calls to police dispatch. The decrease has been in both petty and violent crimes

“Things have slowed down for us, in retrospect of the number of calls we get and the number of calls that our guys have to handle. I did a check on the stats from February to March, when this thing, the first of March, when this thing started coming out. Our calls to dispatch haven’t gone down a whole lot, I think it was around 50 to 55, but our calls that our patrol guys handle are down about 200, so for a month that’s substantial.”

Lutz believes that the governors stay at home order has led to the decrease. Lutz also says that even though crime is down the police presence has actually increased.

“There’s been no decrease. In fact, we actually have extra patrols out. You know we have 12 school resource officers in this county now, and uh when schools not in session we get to use and utilize those resource officers. So actually we divide those guys up and we’ll put two or three on road control and we’ll also put three down at the jail to help with transports to the doctors and other places, including court which is still open.”

The sheriff’s office maintains that the health and safety of county residents is its top priority.