East Boston has experienced a slight uptick in Part One Crime through the first three quarters of 2018.
According to statistics released by the Boston Police that compares Jan. 1, 2017, through Sept. 30 2017, with the same time period for 2018 overall Part One Crime is up 7 percent in Eastie.
There were 34 more Part One Crimes reported when comparing the first three quarters of 2017 with the first three quarters of 2018. In total there have been 534 Part One Crimes in the neighborhood so far this year, compared to the 500 reported in 2017.
District A-7 Captain Kelly McCormick said at a recent community meeting that while he loves to take responsibility when crime is down he will also take responsibility for when crime is up.
With that said McCormick added that an increase in only a few Part One Crimes has been responsible for the seven percent increase.
“Our biggest increase is larcenies,” said McCormick. “This is theft from stores and shoplifting in and around the Central Square and Maverick Square areas from places like Shaws and CVS.”
By this point in 2017 there were 146 larcenies reported, but that number has jumped to 197 in 2018.
Community Officer Dan Simons said there was also an increase in robbery and attempted robberies. In 2017 there were 43 reports of robbery and attempted robberies. That number has jumped to 67 incidents so far for 2018.
“We also had no homicides in 2017 and this year we had that one homicide at Shore Plaza but no other major violent incidents. It was a very quiet summer.”
In that case Jeremy Menedez, 29, was extradited from New Hampshire following his arrest and held without bail in connection with the shooting death of 29-year-old Taquise Johnson. Johnson’s body was found in the open air garage below Shore Plaza on Border Street.
Other than the increase in these crimes, both McCormick and Simons said that other crime has decreased.
Residential burglaries have dropped from 68 in 2017 to 55 in 2018 and there have been zero other burglaries in Eastie this year. Commercial burglaries dropped from 5 to 3 when comparing 2017 to 2018.
Larceny from a motor vehicle has also dropped from 87 incidents in 2017 to 71 in 2018 and auto theft dropped from 37 to 36.
Domestic aggravated assault has dropped from 33 to 31 while non-domestic aggravated assault has dropped from 64 to 60.
Rape or attempted rape was the same through the first three quarters of 2018 when compared to 2017 with 13 incidents.
Eastie seven percent increase in the third quarter is not unusual. With three months left in the year police expect some of these numbers will even out. Statistically, Eastie is as safe, if not safer, than South Boston whose resident saw a 10 percent increase in Part One Crime with 1,157 incidents reported so far this year. Three of those incidents were homicides. Southie also seems to be dealing with a huge increase in larcenies from a motor vehicle as well as auto theft.
Cutline,
District A-7 Community Officer Dan Simons goes over the most recent crime stats at a community meeting in East Boston.