With all the stress to produce the Perfect Christmas, it’s not a surprise that certain crimes increase around the Holiday Season. Christmas is not a holiday for the police, hospitals or fire brigade, it’s an all hands on deck time of year. With everyone out making merry, they make an easier target for the criminal minded. So, let’s take a look at the Crimes of Christmas.
Alcohol Related Crimes
While midwinter is the darkest time of year, it can be a joyous time where many religions hold festivals of light and celebrations. All the parties can lead to alcohol over-consumption. The increased intake of alcohol leads to an increase in intoxication-based crimes. For instance, the old favourite Drunk Driving, which increased in December 2023 by 41% (South Wales Police, 2023). But driving under the influence is not the only crime that alcohol encourages. Drinking fuels aggression. 42% of assault cases are alcohol-fuelled (Bryant, 2023). A record number of people in the UK are required to wear tracing tags for alcohol-related public disorder offences (Ministry of Justice, 2023). In fact, approximately 39% of violent crimes, especially Domestic Violence are triggered by drinking excess alcohol.
What forensics are used to combat Alcohol-Induced Crime?
The main on the ground test for alcohol is the breathalyser.
Credit: National Archives and Records Administration, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
When a person breathes into a breathalyser, a catalyser combines the ethanol in the expired air with oxygen, converting it into acetic acid, which breaks down into water plus carbon dioxide, releasing chemical energy. The chemical energy powers a fuel cell, which gives a measurable electrical signal. The more ethanol in the breath, the higher the electrical signal (Berger, 2002).
If there is a high signal then a confirmatory blood test is performed. Using the Widmark Formula, it is possible to determine the Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). Every country has a legal limit to the BAC allowed for driving.
That said, not all violence or crimes are alcohol related.
Violent Crimes (not alcohol-related)
Even without alcohol as an excuse, violent crimes of all sorts increase around the festive season. Muggings in the streets rise by approximately 38%. Sexual offences increase by 32% (ADT, 2022) and stalking and harassment have an 11% rise in cases over the holidays (PA Media, 2024). Worst of all, instead of a happy time opening presents, some children face increased abuse. In 2024, there is a 19% rise in cases over last year (Beck, 2024).
What forensics are used to combat Violent Crime?
In countries that have extensive CCTV coverage, that is often the first line of approach. As PC Grant puts it, in Ben Aaronvich’s novel Rivers of London,
Criminals are not caught by brilliant deductive reasoning but by the fact that some poor slob has spent a week tracking down every shop in Hackney that sells a particular brand of trainer, and then checking the security camera footage on every single one. (Aaronovitch, p. 64).
Credit: WrS.tm.pl, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
However, even in a country with CCTV on every corner, a forensic artist may be called in to create a picture of the attacker. A forensic artist has the job of recreating an image of a suspect from a simple description, either with a hand-drawn sketch or by computer imaging. They can also be of use in identifying victims by reconstructing a face from skeletal remains. They can re-create crimes scenes in a diagram or picture or they could age progress the photograph of a missing person. Their job is vital to law enforcement agencies (Crime Scene Investigator, 2024).
But not all crimes involve violence.
Other Crimes (not alcohol-related)
With the darker days and longer nights, this is the season for burglary. Apparently, there is a regular 20% increase in break-ins during the weeks of Christmas, and this year it is 4% higher than last year. Retailers are reporting and increase in unresolved shoplifting cases. They are up 29% over last year (PA News Agency, 2024). Similar to shoplifting, Dine & Dash is becoming more frequent with 30% of restaurants saying they have an increase in cases (Sualeh, 2024).
One final crime that rises at this time of year is Fraud. In 2023, it was reported to have a 53% increase on the previous year. Fraud can involve anything from online phishing to stealing your credit card details (Edology, 2007-2024). With everyone in a rush, it is easier to scam people.
What forensics are used to combat Non-Violent Crime?
When dealing with fraud it is often an online scam. In the UK, alerts are sent to Action Fraud, which deals with all the scams and fraud. This is a digital forensics unit.
Credit: Doodlebug, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Their job is to find the evidence on any technological device, be it computer, camera or computer game controller (EC-Council, 2022). If you want more information on digital forensics you can find it here.
For all these numbers, I have used UK agency reports, as mixing up the statistics from different countries would give a false impression.
And that concludes 2024. I have pretty much brought you up-to-date on Forensic Practice so from January, I will do something a little different.
Merry Everything and a Happy Always.
References
Aaronovitch, Ben. Rivers of London (A Rivers of London novel). p64. Orion. Kindle Edition.
ADT. (2022). Christmas Crime Hotspots. ADT.co.uk. 8 December. https://www.adt.co.uk/blog/christmas-crime-hotspots
Berger, A. (2002). Alcohol breath testing. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 325(7377), 1403. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.325.7377.1403
Beck, L. (2024). Surge In Concerns About Children Experiencing Domestic Abuse. Nottinghamshire Live. 23 December. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/surge-concerns-children-experiencing-domestic-043200081.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALdSlk8ulLxts0rfyknXG1-GjgVKaRjnb38HmZn3QvkZ1i-Vqru-vnvgv8W3K-ZkhOGX4ihkzRCTkxk2rDSR57C0O85mThVnOlcgm8VonIgPriDPNVBmayoBTSln6LLJdRQYFgI7Mbc2VaXZkItaLhMtOnHkf31_mgqsQEvzqeIh
Bryant, L. (2023). Patterns in Alcohol-Related Violence. Institute of Alcohol Studies and The Open University. February. https://www.ias.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Patterns-in-alcohol-related-violence-IAS-February-2023.pdf
Crime Scene Investigator. (2024). What is a Forensic Sketch Artist? CrimeSceneInvestigatorEDU.org. https://www.crimesceneinvestigatoredu.org/forensic-artist/#:~:text=A%20forensic%20artist%2C%20also%20commonly,identification%2C%20apprehension%20or%20conviction%20purposes
EC-Council. (2022). How well do you know Digital Forensics? https://www.eccouncil.org/what-is-digital-forensics/
Edology. (2007-2024). 4 Common Christmas Crimes. Edology.com. https://www.edology.com/blog/edology-news/4th-day-of-christmas/
Ministry of Justice. (2023). Record Number of Offenders Facing Sober Christmas and New Year. GOV.UK. 29 December. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-number-of-offenders-facing-sober-christmas-and-new-year
PA Media. (2024). Scotland’s Top Prosecutor Urges Abuse Victims to Speak Out Over Festive Period. STV News. 23 December. https://news.stv.tv/scotland/scotlands-top-prosecutor-urges-abuse-victims-to-speak-out-over-festive-period
PA News Agency. (2024). Shop Staff Facing ‘Christmas Crime Wave’ With More Cases Unsolved. The National. 23 December. https://www.thenational.scot/news/national/24813290.shop-staff-facing-christmas-crime-wave-shoplifting-cases-unsolved/
South Wales Police/Heddlu de Cymru. (2023). December Drink Drive arrests up 41% from Last Year. 22 December. https://www.south-wales.police.uk/news/south-wales/news/2023/rha-dec/december-drink-drive-arrests-up-41-from-last-year/
Sualeh, H. (2024). The Rise of Dine and Dash — What Security Professionals Need to Know. Frontline. 3 October. https://www.get-licensed.co.uk/get-daily/rise-of-dine-and-dash-incidents/
