On Thursday, Feb. 2, 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, Sgt. John Dougherty provides year-to-date crime statistics compiled by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center. One chart examines Part One crime data. Part One crimes are the most serious in nature, and don’t include lesser crimes such as vandalism, drug dealing or illegal possession of firearms.
So far this year, there have been 52 reported crimes in JP, the same amount as this time last year. Districts that experienced more crime are Brighton, Downtown, Mattapan, Roxbury and South End. Districts that saw less crime are Charlestown, Dorchester, East Boston, South Boston and West Roxbury.
Part One crimes that have seen an uptick compared to 2021 are non-domestic aggravated assault, commercial burglary, residential burglary and larceny from a motor vehicle. Crimes that saw a decrease include rape, robbery, domestic aggravated assault and other larceny. The numbers for homicide and auto theft remained the same.
Another graph showed the number of fatal and nonfatal shootings. Overall shootings are up 37.5 percent in the city compared to last year, but District E13 has seen no change. Jamaica Plain has had zero shootings so far this year. Only Dorchester, East Boston, Roxbury and South Boston have had shootings this year.
The number of arrests for reported crimes across the city is up 25 percent.
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 March 3. All members of the public interested in public safety are encouraged to attend.