Boston Shootings, Homicides Down, Despite National Trends
Sgt. Detective John Boyle, a spokesman for the Boston Police Department, attributed the decrease in street violence to the hard work of the department’s members, and the force’s community outreach.
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Bucking national violence trends, Boston has recorded 38 homicides for 2021, down from 53 for the same time period last year and , reports the Boston Globe. Total shooting incidents also were down, from 224 last year to 163 this year, and, overall, what police refer to as Part 1 crime, which includes homicides, rapes, aggravated assaults, robberies, larcenies, burglaries, and auto thefts, was down 14 percent.
Boston’s year stands in stark contrast with what is going on in other major U.S. cities, many of which are grappling with record-breaking numbers of shootings and homicides in 2021. Sg. Detective John Boyle, a spokesman for the Boston Police Department, attributed the decrease in street violence to the hard work of the department’s members, and the force’s community outreach. Christopher Herrmann, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the nationwide increase in violence is being fueled by increased mental health stressors, including the pandemic, unemployment, financial and social strains, and decreased trust in the criminal justice system. Other factors include further fractured relationships between the community and police, lags in the court system processes, and decreased police morale, as well as limited and decreased use of violence interruption programs during the pandemic.
