Coronavirus: Locked-down Miami goes seven weeks without a homicide for first time since 1957

Violent crime is down in many cities, but up in Chicago

Miami has gone seven weeks without a homicide (Getty Images)

Stay-at-home orders have caused a sharp drop in violent crime across many of America’s cities, with some stark new modern records being set.

Police in Miami, Florida, have revealed that there have been no homicides for seven weeks - the longest run without one since 1957.

"We can say that it's due to our police high visibility, attributed with the pandemic and the Stay At Home order," a Miami Police Department spokesperson said.

The mayor, Francis Suarez, declared a state of emergency on March 12 to slow the spread of the virus, an order that has since been extended six times in week-long increments.

From February 17 until April 12 there were no homicides reported, making it the city’s best run since 1957 when it went 9 weeks and 3 days without any reported homicides.

And while domestic violence and child abuse cases are also down, the police chief said he’s concerned about underreporting of cases by people while they’re locked down in close proximity to each other.

Baltimore and New York have also seen clear drops in violent crime.

However robberies and shootings are up in Chicago.

"We're fighting the pandemic, and we're fighting the epidemic," said Chicago’s Tony Raggs, from the Alliance of Local Service Organizations. "The epidemic being violence."