On Thursday, Dec. 3, District E13 of the Boston Police Department (BPD) hosted its monthly virtual police and community relations meeting. The meeting is an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions of local law enforcement.
At every meeting, officers provide year-to-date crime statistics. One chart examines Part One crime data. Part One crimes are more serious in nature, and don’t include lesser crimes such as vandalism, drug dealing or illegal possession of firearms.
According to the summary, Part One crime is down four percent in the city of Boston compared to this time last year. Jamaica Plain is beating that reduction. So far this year, there have been 762 reported crimes, compared to 857 last year, a decrease of 11 percent. Of the 12 BPD districts, only Downtown, Mattapan and Hyde Park saw a greater year-to-year decrease.
Crimes that saw a decrease so far this year include homicide, rape and attempted, non-domestic aggravated assault, residential and other burglary, other larceny and auto theft. Crimes that saw an uptick compared to 2019 include robbery and attempted, domestic aggravated assault, commercial burglary, and larceny from a motor vehicle.
Officer William Jones provided a more detailed overview of the Part One crimes from the previous month. One that stood out was the theft of auto parts out of a car parked on a residential street. Among the parts stolen was a catalytic converter, which can cost up to $2,000 to replace.
“I would suggest that owners of these vehicles pay extra attention to ensuring they are locked and that if they hear a car alarm, to look outside and check their vehicles,” said Officer Jones. “If they think something is wrong, call 911.”
A second chart compared the statistics of fatal and nonfatal shootings from 2019 to 2020. Jamaica Plain saw 20 shootings so far this year, up from 18 in 2019. Only Roxbury, Mattapan and Dorchester’s District C11 saw higher numbers. However, Jamaica Plain accounted for 7.4 percent of citywide shootings in 2020, down from 9.7 percent last year.
The police and community relations meeting is held on the first Thursday of the month at 6:30pm.