Life on patrol in Fresno is unusually quiet. During the season when crime numbers are expected to peak … They are plummeting and the change is weather related.
"Criminals are human beings first. And hot weather does motivate them to do certain things."
Once temperatures reach extreme levels, the police department notices the crime trends change across the city.
"When the temperature gets to a certain level and generally it's around 110 degrees, people stop coming outside and they are less likely to be involved in certain types of criminal activity."
The past two weeks violent crime in southeast Fresno has dropped 36 percent from the previous two weeks, it's down 33 percent in central Fresno and it's dropped off 20 percent in southwest.
"Let me just ask you this question, do you want to hurt yourself or anyone else?"
Officer Damon Kurtz patrols southeast Fresno … he's normally slammed this time of day but lately business has been slow.
Damon Kurtz: "Dayshift typically starts out slow and ends up really busy. Usually by 2 in the afternoon we're swamped with calls and right now, as you see there's almost no calls holding."
Domestic flare ups between family members are still making up many calls during the heat wave but across the board even domestic disturbances are slightly down … 5 percent citywide.
In the late evening once temperatures drop, the police department is noticing more people coming outside but gang crackdowns in southeast Fresno have been an extra incentive for parolees and those on probation to stay inside.
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