News > Culture > Bark at the Moon?

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TUESDAY JUNE 5 2007 3:00 PM

Brighton, sometimes referred to as "London by the Sea," appears to be suffering from the effects of the lunar cycle. It has been noticed that revellers who go out to enjoy the city's wonderful nightlife are getting a bit more rowdy during a full moon, so much so that extra police are going to be deployed in the Brighton and Hove area.

It follows research by the Sussex force which concluded there was a rise in violent incidents when the moon was full - and also on paydays. Insp Andy Parr said he compared crime statistics for Brighton and Hove with lunar graphs to discover the trend.

The legend that people can become violent, or even turn into wolves, can be traced back to ancient times. But nobody has been able to explain a link between lunar cycles and human behaviour

Research? Well, kind of. While Insp Parr is claiming to have "compared a graph of full moons and a graph of last year's violent crimes and [noted] there is a trend", therefore sounding like the usual half-cocked approach to statistical rigour, there is some precedant. Nine years ago a three-month study of 1,200 inmates at a high security jail in Leeds showed a rise in violent incidents near a full moon, and "The Lunar Cycle: Effects On Human And Animal Behavior And Physiology," a paper published by Professor Michal Zimecki from the Polish Academy of Sciences, also claims to have identified a link between lunar cycles and criminality.

Despite reacting first, the police are hoping that they will be able to scientifically justify the lunacy at these times of the month by working closely with a university. In the meantime, according to a BBC radio interview, they were doubly preparing for the next full moon scheduled for June 30th, as it coincides with a large percentage of the population getting paid, which anecdotally means even more people in the pubs....

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Comments

SynDigiTal

Cleveland, OH

April 2007

JUN 05, 2007 03:04 PM

Ive been to brighton a few times.

awesome place in my opinion. I was there during a full moon, and didn't notice anything out of the normal.

Then again I live in Cleveland.

niccie

United Kingdom

March 2006

JUN 05, 2007 03:06 PM

I used to work in the Job Centre, you could guarantee that whenever there was full moon we would get more customers coming in and kicking off than at any other times, it started out as a bit of a joke but then everyone noticed a pattern..

I've always been fascinated with this subject though, my paternal Grandfather was a bit mental and would lock himself in a dark room for a week whenever there was a full moon..

Quirky

Birmingham, AL

October 2005

JUN 05, 2007 03:07 PM

The moon is responsible for a rise in passion, not criminality.

erin_broadley

Los Angeles, CA

October 2006

JUN 05, 2007 03:22 PM

Poptard said:
The moon is responsible for a rise in passion, not criminality.

what if you're passionate about being a criminal?

mingol

Singapore

July 2005

JUN 05, 2007 03:23 PM

erin_broadley said:

Poptard said:
The moon is responsible for a rise in passion, not criminality.

what if you're passionate about being a criminal?

Who isn't?

Wordwill

Chicago, IL

November 2004

JUN 05, 2007 03:26 PM

All the police I've ever worked around have been absolutely sure of the correlation between the moon and debauchery, criminality or passion. It's anecdotal evidence, yes, but lots of it.

Aaron_Lariviere

Los Angeles, CA

May 2007

JUN 05, 2007 03:32 PM

I often apply my criminality to my passion, and the moon just makes it that much worse.

But for real, like seriously, this is why we should all join the Citizens' Association to Blow Up the Moon. If we can get the prez on board we can start a new war to end, uh, lycanthropic terror by taking the fight to the source.