Friday's 12 arrests more than doubled the 7-day average of 5, and is the highest total arrest day in two weeks. The Bellis Fair Pkwy hotel and retail strip accounted for three separate shoplifting arrests alone, spread across the afternoon and evening. Overall incident volume hit 43, up 54% from Thursday and about a third above the weekly average, likely pursuant of World Cup activity.

Theft led the criminal categories with six incidents Friday, five of them clustered along the Meridian and Bellis Fair corridor. Three of those were shoplifting arrests at the 300 Block of E Bellis Fair Pkwy, the hotel and restaurant row near Bellis Fair Mall. Drugs/narcotics had three incidents, including two arrests within two hours of each other on the 1800 Block of Cornwall Ave downtown. Traffic collisions continued their upward trend with two more on Friday, including a hit-and-run on Meridian St.

The most notable arrest was an 18-year-old picked up for narcotics on the 1800 Block of Cornwall Ave at 9:24 AM, their sixth arrest in our data. Two hours earlier, a 47-year-old was arrested on the same block for a narcotics violation that also referenced a vehicle prowl. Over at Bellis Fair, a 28-year-old shoplifting arrestee saw their fifth arrest since February.