On Thursday, June 3, District E-13 police officers presented 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 local crime statistics. One chart examines Part One crime data. Part One crimes are more serious in nature, and don’t include crimes such as vandalism or drug dealing. Part One crime distinguishes between burglary, robbery and larceny. Burglary involves accessing a residence or business unlawfully with the intent to remove items. Robbery is taking items off one’s person by force or intimidation. Larceny doesn’t involve force, and includes shoplifting, pickpocketing, stealing lawn items or taking items out of a vehicle.
According to the summary, Part One crime in Boston is down 20 percent in the city compared to this time last year. Jamaica Plain is beating that with a reduction of 29 percent. There were 342 crimes reported in 2020 and only 242 reported this year. Significantly, most crimes have seen a decrease, including homicide, rape, robbery, assault, commercial burglary, larceny from a motor vehicle and other larceny. Only residential burglary and auto theft saw an increase over this time last year.
A second chart compared the statistics of fatal and nonfatal shootings from 2019 to 2020. Out of the twelve precincts, JP ranked sixth in shootings (along with the South End), accounting for 4.5 percent of total shootings in the city. There have been three shootings this year compared to ten last year, a reduction of 70 percent, beating the citywide reduction of almost 10 percent.
The June 3 meeting was the first not hosted by Officer William Jones, who retired last month. Taking over for him at the police and community relations meeting will be Sgt. John Dougherty and Officer Patricia Darosa. The police and community relations meeting is held on the first Thursday of the month at 6:30pm on Zoom. The next meeting will be on Thursday, July 1. All members of the public interested in public safety are encouraged to attend.