Murders up significantly, but overall crime down in Boston

Murders jumped 50 percent in Boston in the first half of this year compared to last, while overall crime is down 5 percent, according to statistics released yesterday by police.

Between Jan. 1 and June 10, 24 people were killed in the city — eight more than the 16 slain in the first six months of 2017.

“Five of them have been stabbings, which is very unusual for us,” police Commissioner William B. Evans said yesterday. “We’re working very hard to keep the homicide rate down. We seem to get bursts of them, then we’ll go five weeks without any.”

There have been 19 fatal shootings since Jan. 1 compared to 12 last year. Nonfatal shootings dropped dramatically from 78 last year to 57 this year. Evans said officers have also removed 300 illegal firearms from the city’s streets since New Year’s Day.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s office said it’s important to continue to build better relationships between police and the communities they serve.

“Together we are going to continue to work with each neighborhood over the summer months,” Walsh’s office said.

Robberies fell from 597 in 2017 to 520 in the same period, while residential burglaries went from 685 to 580. Evans credits advances in technology, including computerized car locks and home-security systems, with the reductions, especially in residential burglaries and auto theft, which decreased from 496 to 460.

There was some good news for store owners, too: Commercial burglaries are down from 186 last year to 136 this year.

The diverse neighborhoods of Charlestown, West Roxbury and Mattapan all enjoyed significant declines in serious crime of 28 percent, 20 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

Gentrified South Boston and East Boston — seen as the next candidate for a makeover — were two neighborhoods where crime is up 13 percent. There was also an increase in family-friendly Jamaica Plain, where crime rose 10 percent. East Boston has seen robberies leap to 47 this year from 28 in 2017 and larcenies not involving thefts from motor vehicles rose from 86 to 100.

For Jessica Murphy, who was walking around East Boston yesterday afternoon, those are more than just statistics — she said someone had snatched her wallet recently and she worries when she’s out and about in various parts of Boston.

“There’s a lot of crime,” she said. “It’s everywhere.”

Evans believes East Boston’s theft problem arises from immigrants being targeted as they leave bars. He said it’s one of the reasons why the Licensing Board is considering bumping back closing time at East Boston watering holes to 1 a.m.

Larcenies from motor vehicles in South Boston have also been an issue this year, with 155 reported compared to 103 last year.

“Nicer cars with nicer toys,” Evans said of the new Southie. “It’s a safe community and sometimes people have a false sense of security. It’s a crime of opportunity.”

‘We’re working very hard to keep the homicide rate down. We seem to get bursts of them, then we’ll go five weeks without any.’ — WILLIAM B. EVANS Boston police commissioner