Seven assaults were reported in Lincoln on Christmas Day, but that’s actually a lower number than usual, said Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady.

“I think the perception of the public and the perception of police officers is that more of these incidents happen on Christmas,” Casady said.

“But in reality it seems that major holidays, rather than being crime generators, actually end up being quite slow compared to the rest of the year. In fact, when you put it to the test, assaults and domestic assaults are considerably less on Christmas than they are the rest of the year.”

Using records from 2002 to 2006, Casady conducted a study that compared the average number of assaults that took place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with the average number of assaults that took place on the same days for the rest of the year.

In those five years, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day averaged 14.6 assaults, with about six domestic assaults. The rest of the year, however, averaged 24.9 assaults, with about nine of those domestic.

Casady said if Christmas-time assaults seem worse than they actually are, it’s because, well, it’s Christmas.

“Anything that happens just sticks out in your mind,” Casady said. “When you hear about some of this stuff, it sticks out because it’s incongruous with the season.”

But, he said, fewer officers work on Christmas, which might also add to the police officer’s perception that assaults are worse than they actually are.

“And everyone working wishes they were home with their family,” he said.

Casady, himself, has worked about 30 or so Christmas Day shifts in the last 35 years.

For the past dozen years, the chief has been on duty during the 1:30-10:30 p.m. shift on Christmas and New Year’s days.

Casady has filled in as duty commander on those two days, running the daily briefings, reading incident reports and overseeing officers.

And one of the perks of working on Christmas, he noted, is its slower pace.

Micah Mertes can be reached at mmertes@journalstar.com or 473-7395.