The Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) - Violent crime in Boston reached a 31-year low during the first six months of the year, police statistics say, although several high-profile killings and a series of sexual assaults seem to contradict the numbers.
“People know what they see on television and what they read in the paper,” Boston Police Commissioner Paul F. Evans said Wednesday. “Perception becomes their reality, and we have to deal with that.”
Part of the fear stems from the 14 homicides that have been recorded since June. Among those killings was the shotgun killing in a Roxbury neighborhood park of 10-year-old Trina Persad on June 29. Women also have experienced a series of sexual assaults in the North End and Brighton neighborhoods.
As of Wednesday, 39 people have been killed in Boston - one more than at this time last year.
The 25 homicides recorded in the first six months of this year is the same total as last year, and one more than in 2000.
The number of violent crimes - murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault - fell 2 percent during the first six months, from 3,434 in 2001 to 3,367 this year. The drop largely was driven by a 6 percent decrease in aggravated assaults, which include domestic violence and nonfatal stabbings and shootings.
Evans credited the drop in violent crime to community policing, along with collaborations with religious and community groups, and law enforcement agencies.
While violent crime was down, overall crime rose 3 percent compared to the first half of last year.
There was a 9 percent jump in larcenies and attempted larcenies, but car thefts dropped 7 percent, from 3,688 vehicles stolen the first six months of last year to 3,433 during the same period this year.
Evans and Mayor Thomas M. Menino have said the biggest challenges for law enforcement are the number of teens in neighborhoods where crime is most prevalent, and the thousands of people returning from prison sentences.
The release of the crime statistics Wednesday came on the day when a ceremony was held to announce national accreditation for the police department’s crime laboratory. To earn the certificate from the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board, the department’s facility had to submit to a rigorous, months-long examination of personnel, equipment, standards and case results.