Boston Area Crime Rates Down

Although Boston area citizens and visitors suffered major casualties and injuries as a result of the recent Boston Marathon bombing event, other basic crime statistic reports provide a significant ray of hope regarding a drop in overall crime rates. This statement is based on comparing the first quarter of 2013 to the same period of 2012.

The Boston Police Department’s (BPD) preliminary statistics reveal a 14% decrease in various crimes during the first few months of 2013 as compared to the same time period in 2012. The crimes covered by these statistics include violent crime and property crimes: homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and vehicle theft (these statistics also include the attempted form of these crimes – except for actual homicide and aggravated assault).

Note: All of these crimes are reported separately for the five main districts/areas of Boston and are summarized here as a whole.

What the Numbers Tell Us About Criminal Charges

• Homicide. There’s been a drop in the total number of murders committed during the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same time period during early 2012 (these numbers fell from a total of 13 homicides to only 10 for early 2013);
• Rape/Attempted Rape. A rather dramatic decline occurred in this category, which is rather encouraging. The total number of these reported crimes fell from 82 to 57 for the same annual quarters of 2013 and 2012;
• Robbery/Attempted Robbery. A significant drop occurred in this category as well, although not as pronounced as that which occurred with rapes. The number of robbery attempts reported during the first quarter of 2012 was 560 – that number fell to only 527 of these same types of crime during early 2013;
• Aggravated Assault. A rather pronounced decline occurred in this category. During the first few months of 2012, a total of 862 of these crimes were reported. In contrast, only 751 of these assaults were reported during the first quarter of this year;
• Burglary/Attempted Burglary. Fortunately, there was also a drop in this category between early 2012 and 2013, although not a very dramatic one. During the first quarter of 2012, there were 900 of these crimes reported – compared to only 844 in early 2013. Nevertheless, this favorable decline demonstrates how hard the BPD is constantly working to protect the public;
• Larceny/Attempted Larceny. Approximately 3,700 of these incidents were reported in early 2012 — compared to only about 3,100 similar crimes in early 2013;
• Vehicle Theft/Attempted Vehicle Theft. Although 336 of these crimes were reported in 2013, that’s an encouraging drop from the 416 vehicle theft crimes committed during the first quarter of 2012.

Boston’s 14% overall drop in crime for all of the categories referenced above is based on the total of 6,554 crimes/attempted crimes reported in early 2012 — compared to only 5,664 similar incidents reported during the first quarter of 2013.

The Boston Police Department clearly notes on its website that all of these facts and figures are “preliminary” and have not yet been fully verified by the BPD.

If you are facing a criminal charge, contact us at the Law Offices of Russell J Matson, PC for a free consultation on your situation, and some recommendations on what to do about it.

 By Elizabeth Smith