When heat rises, crime can too - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

When heat rises, crime can too

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By Stephen Abel - bio | email

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THOMASVILLE, GA (WALB) -

There's no end in sight to this record setting heat wave. Most of south Georgia is under a heat advisory right now.

Sometimes, when the temperatures rise so does the crime rate.

Anyone who works outside can tell you, the last few months have been unbearable. Temperatures have regularly reached triple digits all summer. We did some investigating to see if this record heat has an impact on crime rates.

"When it's extremely cold people tend to stay inside and you don't have quite as much crime as far as property crimes,"  said Thomas County Public Information Officer Captain Steve Jones. 

We pulled the numbers of every Part 1 Crime-- Homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, and larceny, in Thomasville since 2008. The statistics show burglaries and larcenies are the highest from May to August every year.

According to these statistics from the Thomasville Police Department there have been more residential burglaries so far this summer than any other summer over the last three years

According to a study conducted by psychologist Craig Anderson, higher temperatures lead to more cases of aggression and irritability. The study shows cities that report temperatures consistently over 90º have higher rates of spousal battery and assault.

The research even claims baseball players are more likely to be hit by a pitch on really hot days than on cooler days.

"Hot weather and poor economic times makes everybody irritable," said Jones.

Studies also say higher temps could lead to folks forgetting to lock their cars or homes. Police say these are sometimes crimes of opportunity.

"A purse, an electronic item laying in the vehicle. They may not have been looking to break into that vehicle, but they see it, the temptations there and they try the door handle. Door handle's open it's an easy theft. Door handle's locked they keep on going."

So the next time you are feeling cranky, anxious, or frustrated, pay attention to the temperature and do you best to cool off.

June was the hottest June on record In Albany. Last month was also the hottest July ever recorded.

  •  Click HERE to see the U. S. Census Bureau's 2011 Statistical Abstract of Crime

 

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