The Associated Press
Boston (AP) -- The number of homicides in Boston reached its highest point for this date since 1996 with the killing of a 19-year-old man over the weekend, but criminologists say the number of slayings is below the level of the early 1990s, when gang violence raged in the city.
“We obviously should take seriously that we have a cluster of homicides of young people, particularly young men,” said James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University, as Boston recorded its 29th homicide early Sunday.
“To some extent perhaps, we have let down our guard,” said Fox, co-author of “The Will to Kill: Making Sense of Senseless Murder, due out next month. “We did a wonderful job with the last generation of teenagers, but there are other kids who followed in their footsteps, and unfortunately the message is not necessarily passed on from one generation to another.”
Boston homicides fell last year to 41 murders, compared with 60 in 2002. From 1994 to 2003, the murder rate in Boston dropped by more than 65 percent.
As of June 20 last year, the city had recorded 17 homicides.
On May 15, Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O’Toole announced steps to curb violence on the city’s streets. Her five-point plan includes: convening a youth violence summit within the police department, meeting with faith-based leaders and youth groups and expanding programs that help convicts re-enter society.
“We’re really working hard to determine if there are any patterns, and if there are, what we can do to hit them head-on,” O’Toole said Sunday night.
Seventeen of the homicide victims this year were males. Of the 29 killings, 11 occurred in the Dorchester or Mattapan neighborhoods, and seven were in Roxbury. Nineteen of the victims were shot, five were stabbed and two were strangled.
Suspects have been charged in eight of the 29 killings, according to The Boston Globe, citing news reports. The Boston Police Department could not confirm that number.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino said parents bear some responsibility for keeping their children off the street, and he also noted that summer job programs and other alternatives need to be revitalized.
“There’s no simplistic answer to this one,” Menino said of the spike in violence.