Environment/Climate Change
Temperature and emergency police calls in Phoenix, Arizona Veronica A. Wang* Veronica Wang Ernani Choma Barrak Alahmad John D. Spengler Antonella Zanobetti
Despite mounting evidence of temperature effects on human health, few studies have quantified the impact on municipal emergency services. Even fewer have examined the potential burden on police departments. As part of the Smart Surfaces Coalition program, we investigated whether hotter temperatures measured from weather stations increased police calls in the city of Phoenix, Arizona. Quasi-Poisson regression models, adjusted for seasonality and long-term trends, were fitted separately for the total number of calls. Using police calls data across eight years from 2016 to 2023, we examined calls for violent crimes, nonviolent crimes, car accidents, health, domestic emergencies, and sexual-based emergencies. We considered average day of and prior-day maximum and minimum temperature to gain insight into daytime and overnight conditions, respectively. We found a higher demand for police services during hotter periods. A 5˚C increase in maximum temperature was associated with a 1.1% (95% CI: 0.9%, 1.5%) increase in police calls overall. Higher temperatures were also associated with a greater number of calls related to violent crimes (2.6% [95% CI: 2.0, 3.2%]), health (4.2% [95% CI: 3.3%, 5.0%]), and domestic emergencies (3.1% [95% CI: 2.1%, 4.0%]). Results were similar and oftentimes stronger for minimum temperature, with the addition of elevated calls for nonviolent and sexual-based emergencies. Even in Phoenix, where the climate is hot and dry and residents are presumably well adapted to heat, the number of police calls increased with temperature, and differentiating by call reasons allowed us to also gain insight into the potential drivers. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the inability to cool down overnight should be taken into consideration when allocating resources to emergency police services and for the well-being of the individuals who live, work, and play in Phoenix.