Pennsylvania homicide rates flare in July

Deb Erdley | Friday, July 19, 2019 10:38 a.m.

When tempers flare as the mercury climbs, homicide rates in Pennsylvania do likewise.

When the number crunchers at the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts began analyzing statistics for criminal homicide they found the highest percentage of those convicted of the offense between 2014 and 2018 — 11% — were found guilty of a slaying that occurred in July.

March, April, August and September weren’t far behind July. AOPC figures showed each of those four months could lay claim to 9% of the homicides during that five year period.

Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts

Proving the axiom that there is little new under the sun, those findings sync with the “Thermic Law of Criminality,” a concept Belgian scientist and statistician Adolphe Quetelet postulated in 1842.

Quetelet said that property crimes peak during the winter, while “crimes against person and morals,” hit a high point during the summer months.