Crime Increasing With The Heat?

A neighbor contacted us about police activity observed around the neighborhood between 4 and 5pm on Tuesday–an incident on the corner of Ocean Ave and Glenwood Rd (pictured) and an arrest by E 16th St and Newkirk Ave. We reached out to the 70th Precinct to find out more, and as of yet have received no response, but we will update once we do.

It’s no secret that while crime may continue to drop overall, violent crime has a unique affinity for warmer temperatures. In How Climate Change Could Make Summer Crime Waves Worse, The Atlantic Cities’ Emily Badger states:

For one thing, the warm summer months create more social interaction (we’re all out on the sidewalk), which in turn creates more opportunities for crime (a lot of us out on the sidewalk are carrying purses) and/or conflicts to arise.

The NYPD tackled 16 murders that occurred during a five-day heat wave last summer, and parks saw a drastic uptick in violence as well. Whether the arrests observed on Tuesday were related to violent crimes and/or criminal acts that took place in the 70-plus degree weather is unknown, but between the aforementioned increase of out-on-the-sidewalk-ness and the proven effect, mentioned in Badger’s article, of extreme heat on our psyche, the idea that more arrests than usual may be taking place soon is not a baseless one.

Did anyone else witness these arrests Tuesday afternoon, or any other police activity? What about in warmer seasons past?