Retired cop Maintains that Crime Does not Take a Summer vacation

‘Crime Does not Take a Summer Vacation' By John Good

As a former police officer, I often welcomed summer with dread. That is because rates of violent crime typically go up during the warm weather months.

Explanations are many, but those in law enforcement point to several factors.

Teens, who during the year have used their time doing schoolwork, participating in sports or other extracurricular activities, now have a lot of free time, often unsupervised with little to do. While most teens enjoy the vacation time peacefully, a small majority may be responsible for most of the crime in their, towns, city, or villages. This seems to make the news.

Nice weather means more people are outside, which can lead to more social encounters that could potentially turn violent.

Some studies have found the seasonal spike may have more to do with changes in human behavior brought on by warmer weather. According to, Daniel Semenza, a criminology professor at Rutgers University, who told NewsNation: “It has less to do with the heat and it being really hot and bothering people and far more to do with the opportunities for disagreements to blow up into violence.”

This was apparently the case in cities across our country the weekend of June 17-18th, 2023.

At a crowded beach or other venue pay attention to your surroundings. Do not bury your nose in your cell phone, it will distract you from goings on near you that could pose a threat.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), which examined the seasonal frequency of crime in the United States. In summer - the beginning of June to the end of August - crime rates increased significantly. Some of the offenses that increased include Robbery, Burglary, Other property crimes, assault and battery, intimate partner violence, and sexual assault.

Of these charges, property crimes had the largest spike. Burglary, for instance, was 11% more common in the summer than in other seasons. This is often attributed to homes left unattended while owners are on vacation. Preventive steps to take include:

• Install an alarm! It seems intuitive to have an alarm installed in your home, but according to Alarms.org, Add a security sign in your front yard, as well as security system stickers on your windows. Burglars will actually look through windows to identify motion detectors in the residence.

• Install motion detector lighting. Darkness is a thief's friend, so by installing motion detector lighting, the last thing a thief wants to experience is finding themselves in a spotlight. Installing motion detector flood lights on the front, back and sides of your home - particularly in places where it would be easy to hide.

• Put interior lights and TVs on timers! Thieves are less likely to attempt a break-in if they think someone is home.

• Install a video doorbell. As a first attempt to determine if anyone is home, thieves will ring the doorbell to see if anyone responds. Consider installing a smart doorbell that allows you to see, hear and speak to visitors from anywhere in the world.

• Put a temporary hold on mail and newspaper deliveries. If you plan to be away from home for an extended period, put a temporary hold on newspaper deliveries and your mail. It seems an easy thing to do, but many people forget this when they go on vacation. If you forget, notify a neighbor to keep an eye on your home and collect accumulating newspapers and mail.

Enjoy the summer, but do not let your safety instincts take a vacation from common sense precautions.

John Good, is a Schaumburg resident and a retired 41-year veteran of a suburban Chicago police department, and the author of “Blood on the Badge.”