The lazy days for students are approaching, but the summertime is anything but slow for local police.
“It’s a busy time,” said Deputy Chief Michael Perry of Evanston Police Department. “You just get everything from A to Z.”
Nationwide, crime tends to peak in the summer, said Prof. Larry Gaines, chairman of the criminal justice department at California State University, San Bernardino.
But Evanston did not see a significant increase in robbery or burglary in the summer of 2003.
According to statistics from EPD, there were 424 reported burglaries and 47 reported robberies from December 2002 through March 2003. From June 2003 to September 2003, there were only 356 reported burglaries and 53 reported robberies.
Perry said EPD takes extra safety measures in the summer because children are not in school. The department places at least two additional cars on the street to patrol during the summer months.
“If a problem arises, we have to adjust accordingly,” he said.
Gaines said alcohol consumption and outdoor socializing contributes to summertime crime.
“When you have all those people together, then you have a higher likelihood of conflict and aggression, especially when alcohol is involved,” Gaines said.
In the winter, the cold weather in the Midwest can keep criminals off the streets, Gaines said.
“When it’s cold, you don’t have people sitting out on their stoops drinking,” Gaines said.
Gaines said property crimes like burglary often increase in summer when people are on vacation and the weather is warm, since burglary is often a “crime of opportunity.”
But that was not the case in Evanston last year, when there were fewer burglaries in the summer.
As students go home for the summer, activity tends to slow down for University Police, said Assistant Chief Daniel McAleer of University Police.
“There’s a change in population here,” he said, citing the high school programs and summer camps held on NU’s Evanston Campus. “Generally the high school programs and the camps are well-supervised so we don’t have to have a lot of interaction with them.”
Summer also is quiet for UP because they have fewer special events like Dillo Day to monitor, McAleer said. After graduation, there are few large crowds until school starts again in the fall, he said. Even with lower activity, UP still patrols in Evanston and around campus, McAleer said.
But although there is no change in the size of UP’s force during the summer, employees get a chance for a break with season’s slower pace.
“It does provide our personnel an opportunity to use some of their vacation time,” McAleer said. “The school year is pretty hectic so it’s hard to take vacation.”
