On Thursday, March 5, Curtis Hall in Jamaica Plain hosted the monthly police and community relations meeting organized by District E-13 of the Boston Police Department (BPD).
Every month, Officer William Jones from the Community Service Office and Captain John Greland update the community about local crime statistics from the previous month. They also take the opportunity to provide common sense advice for how to prevent crime and to answer questions from community members. Also invited to these meetings are officials from MBTA’s Transit Police and Massachusetts State Police.
Officer Jones provided copies of a chart comparing the year-to-date Part One crime statistics from the first three two months of 2019 with the first two months of 2020. Part One crimes are those that are more serious in nature, and don’t include lesser crimes such as vandalism, drug dealing or possession of firearms.
In order to interpret the Part One crime statistics, it’s important to know the difference between robbery, burglary and larceny. Robbery is the taking of someone’s property directly from that person using intimidation or force. Burglary, also known as breaking and entering is unlawfully accessing a building with the intent to commit theft. Larceny deprives someone of their property but it doesn’t include force (like robbery) or breaking and entering (like burglary.) An example of larceny would be bike theft or shoplifting.
According to the chart, in the first two months of 2020 there were 156 reported Part One crimes in Jamaica Plain, down from 123 this time last year, a reduction of almost 13 percent. Crimes that have seen a decrease in 2020 include homicide, non-domestic aggravated assault, residential burglaries, other burglary and other larceny. Crimes that have seen an uptick in 2020 include rape and attempted, robbery and attempted, commercial burglary, larceny from motor vehicle, and auto theft. Domestic aggravated assault saw no change from this time last year.
Part One crime is on a downward trend in JP. There have only been five residential break-ins so far in 2020, compared to 33 by this time last year. Jamaica Plain has seen a slight uptick in robberies due to a spike in juvenile offenders. To help redirect negative behavior by teens, District E-13 has been working closely with social service agencies, the court system and elected officials.
“We are cautiously optimistic that we have identified those involved and are working towards minimizing the likelihood of further incidents,” Officer Jones told the Gazette.
The police and community relations meeting is on the first Thursday of every month at 6:30pm at Curtis Hall at 20 South Street. The next meeting will be held on Thursday, April 2. A Spanish language version of this meeting is also held on the second Thursday of every month at 6:30pm at 155 Lamartine Street. These meetings are open to the public and all interested residents are encouraged to attend.