On Thursday, June 4, District E-13 of the Boston Police Department (BPD) hosted its community relations meeting virtually via Google Meet. It was the first time the meeting was held since March due to COVID-19.
Sgt. John Dougherty shared the Part One Crime & Firearm Overview from the Boston Regional Intelligence Center. The report is generated monthly at the request of BPD Commissioner William Gross and Mayor Marty Walsh in order to inform both law enforcement and the public about current trends.
According to the summary, Part One Crime is down four percent in the city of Boston compared to this time last year. The department has made 31 percent fewer arrests.
Jamaica Plain is beating the citywide reduction in Part One Crime with an overall decrease of seven percent over 2019.
Crimes that saw a decrease include rape and attempted rape; non-domestic aggravated assault; residential burglary; other burglary and other larceny. Crimes that saw an uptick compared to 2019 include robbery and attempted robbery; domestic aggravated assault; commercial burglary; larceny from motor vehicle and auto theft. Homicide saw no change from last year.
Despite the overall reduction in crime, both fatal and non-fatal shootings are up 23 percent in Boston compared to last year. Jamaica Plain accounted for 6.7 percent of the city’s shootings in 2019, and 13.5 percent this year, making E-13 the fourth highest in shootings of Boston’s 12 districts. Only Districts B-2 (Roxbury), B-3 (Mattapan/N. Dorchester) and C-11 (Dorchester) have higher numbers.
The police and community relations meeting is held on the first Thursday of the month at 6:30pm. These meetings are open to the public and all interested residents are encouraged to attend. Until in-person meetings resume, the public can attend the meeting remotely via Google Meet. The next meeting will be held on Thursday, July 2.
To join the meeting, go to meet.google.com and enter the meeting code hgf-fdjq-cui. You can also join the meeting by phone by dialing 1-720-507-3856 and entering the code 724 468 894 followed by the pound or hashtag sign.