Crimes against delivery people in LA have increased as demand soars amid pandemic

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Crimes against delivery people in Los Angeles have nearly doubled since last year, according to an analysis of LAPD crime data by USC's data journalism organization, Crosstown.

Between Jan. 1 and July 31 of 2020, there were 58 crimes committed against delivery people. The same period the year before only saw 33. The entirety of 2018 saw just 48 crimes against delivery people.

Of those 58 crimes, about 43% were robberies and about 22% were assaults.

This comes during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced more people to stay at home and order things online.

Online food delivery, for example, has skyrocketed. According to numbers provided by data analytics company, Second Measure, food delivery sales in the Los Angeles Metro area have more than doubled since last year.

See the interactive graph below for more on food delivery sales in Los Angeles.

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