Crime Patterns Change With the Seasons

The change in seasons isn’t nearly as dramatic in Southern California as in other parts of the country. But to local law enforcement agencies, each season still brings its own types of crime and trouble.

With December approaching, police are gearing up for what is traditionally a dramatic upswing in burglaries and thefts--especially of Christmas gifts from cars and homes. So police departments are redeploying officers to retail centers and focusing on holiday crime-prevention programs.

But officials said they will shift gears again in the summer, when the hot weather leads to more outdoor alcohol consumption and fights, most notably in beach cities that in past years have seen the rowdy behavior degenerate into full-scale riots.

“When there is a change in seasons, you have to allow for changes in behavior,” Anaheim Police Sgt. Joe Vargas said. “For instance, when fall comes, it gets darker earlier, and children playing out in the streets need to be supervised more closely. Or if you’re going to the store or the ATM machine, you need to keep in mind that parking lots are darker. Crooks are like cockroaches: They like the dark.”

James Lesley, an associate professor of criminal justice at Cal State Fullerton, said the earliest criminologists found that the seasons and time are the most reliable factors in predicting crime.

“We’ve never been able to deny the linkage,” Lesley said. “It’s very strong. You can go anywhere in the United States and find that July and August have the highest violent crime rates of any time of the year because of heat frustration. People just basically boil over, and they get violent. The extreme cold causes people to not commit crimes. In New York City, there was a blizzard some years back, and there was not one murder that day.”

While Orange County is not likely to have a blizzard any time soon, the cooler weather during the holiday season doesn’t deter criminals from coming out in force. They typically focus on busy shopping centers and malls, looking to pick pockets, use stolen credit cards or pass stolen checks.

Costa Mesa Police Lt. Ron Smith said that “people are vulnerable because they have their minds on the holidays. There is a sense of goodwill and holiday spirit, and people drop their guard a little bit.”

Vargas recalled one particularly sad episode from last Christmas when a couple had left all of the family’s wrapped presents inside their car, parked in the driveway, with plans to put them under the family Christmas tree once the children had gone to sleep.

“When the mom went out to get the presents, they were gone because the car had been burglarized,” Vargas said. “This was a family that was on welfare and didn’t have much. Anyone can be a victim. It doesn’t have to be someone with money.”

Fullerton Police Sgt. Dave Stanko warns against donating money to charities during the winter months--whether the solicitations come at a shopping mall or on the phone.

“Give to the charities you already know about and be cautious of door-to-door solicitations,” Stanko said. “If you have any questions, call the local police or the Better Business Bureau.”

Ronald K. Barrett, a social psychologist at Loyola Marymount University, said holiday crime can soar because “it is a time in which the gap between the haves and have-nots becomes more visibly evident.”

Police also find themselves responding to more family disputes during this season because people often are together for longer periods than usual.

“There is a surge in these types of situations during the holidays because of the forced closeness,” Placentia Police Det. Corrine Loomis said.

As winter turns to spring then summer, the warmer weather presents an entirely different set of crimes and offenses--and seasonal winds also can have an impact.

“Crime rates tend to go up during Santa Ana conditions,” said Lesley, the Cal State Fullerton professor. “Police calls for service go up, and so do crimes. I think it has a lot to do with the heat effect of it. It makes people less tolerant of stressful conditions. Of all of the natural phenomena that Orange County experiences, the Santa Anas are the closest thing to a full moon as far as crime causation.”

Beginning in the spring, beach cities beef up their patrol as teenagers, college students and tourists begin flocking to the shore in such large numbers that trouble seems inevitable.

“Our biggest problems once it warms up are alcohol-related,” Newport Beach Sgt. Mike McDermott said. “We have more people going to the beach, more people out dining, and there are more DUIs and more fights.”

More foot and bike patrols are needed along the shore in the warmer weather because of beach-related crimes.

“When someone goes into the water, they leave wallets, radios and Walkmans. Someone grabs their stuff and takes off,” McDermott said.

Summer also means more children and teenagers with time on their hands.

“When school is out, we change a bit of our staffing to include those areas where kids frequent,” Irvine Police Lt. Tom Hume said. “We end up working a lot of parties.”

Westminster Police Capt. Andrew Hall said that in higher-density cities, the heat can mean trouble.

“On hot summer nights, you will have neighbors sitting on top of each other, and people are staying out late, maybe sitting out on the steps drinking a little more,” Hall said. “On cold winter nights, people get in early.”

And it’s not just weather changes that affect the types of calls officers must respond to. The day the time changes in the fall and spring has been known to lead to more traffic accidents as some motorists become somewhat discombobulated.

“It’s like driving the first day it rains,” Stanko said. “People have to get used to it.”

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Seasons of Crime

Local law enforcement agencies face different types of crimes and calls for service as the year progresses. A sampling:

Winter

* Thefts at shopping malls rise sharply, with unsuspecting shoppers as the victims.

* Drunk-driving incidents increase due to abundance of holiday parties.

* Credit-card and check fraud peak.

Spring

* Weather gets warmer, leading to a rise in outdoor, alcohol-related fights.

* People venture outdoors more, resulting in more potential crime victims.

Summer

* Beach-related petty crimes occur more frequently; tourists often targeted.

* Juvenile crime increases with teenagers out of school.

* More homes are burglarized because windows often are left open in hot weather.

Fall

* Traffic accidents increase when the time changes, causing earlier darkness.

* Time change also leads to more incidents involving children still out playing when it’s dark.

Source: Various police departments; Researched by GREG HERNANDEZ / Los Angeles Times