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THE CONTEXT
KEY TRENDS AND FINDINGS
MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND INNOVATIONS 2002 - 2004
REMAINING CHALLENGES
COMPETITION
THE CONTEXT
Boston is known throughout the nation for its collaborative approach to public safety. The Boston Police Department is the oldest paid, public safety department in the country. Headquartered in a state-of-the-art facility in Lower Roxbury, it operates neighborhood stations in 11 districts citywide and includes special divisions for Family Justice, Homeland Security, and Research and Evaluation. Boston’s public safety arena includes a number of other municipalities that make up Suffolk County, including Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, and encompasses the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, the House of Correction, and the District Attorney’s Office. The court system is made up of Suffolk Superior Court, eight district courts, the Boston Municipal Court, and the Boston Juvenile Court. The MBTA Police also operate throughout the public transit system, while university police serve local educational institutions. The Boston Fire Department is the nation's first paid municipal fire department, which provides fire, rescue and emergency services.
State public safety departments, including the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety, the Massachusetts Court System, and the Massachusetts Department of Correction work with the US Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), the Environmental Protection Agency, the American Red Cross and others provide key public safety and emergency-management services.
A broad range of organizations and individuals work to promote safety in Boston’s neighborhoods in alliance with one another and with public sector personnel. These include 963 organizational partnerships developed by the Boston Police Department between 1994 and 2002, with groundbreaking alliances such as the Boston Strategy to Prevent Youth Violence formed in the 1990s.
Numerous faith-based and community-based initiatives bolster public safety, including players such as the Dorchester Youth Collaborative, Project R.I.G.H.T., the Ten Point Coalition, Ella J. Baker House, Roxbury Youthworks, the Cape Verdean Community Task Force and ROCA. Local academic partners include Northeastern University’s Institute on Race and Justice and Harvard University’s Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management.
Community safety is also bolstered by in- and out-of-school programs for at-risk youth, including the Boston Public School Office of High School Renewal and the Boston Police Activities League (PAL). Other related initiatives include health and substance abuse progams in collaboration with the Boston Public Health Commission, partnerships with businesses, and the deep involvement of individuals, parents and families through programs like Safe Watch. The City of Boston also coordinates Homeland Security programs in partnership with other inner core municipalities, particularly those ringing Boston Harbor.
KEY TRENDS AND FINDINGS
Public safety successes in Boston over the past decade are attributed to creative, multi-sectoral initiatives and partnerships. Boston is challenged to deepen these approaches and to develop new responses in the face of increasing youth violence, declining public perceptions of safety, and funding pressures, including a combination of budget cuts and new homeland security priorities. (see indicator 8.6.1) The Boston partnership model includes law enforcement agencies, faith-based communities, school, after-school and summer programs, public health departments, business leadership, the academic community, and community-based organizations and mobilization. In addition, the Boston Police Department (BPD) has invested in neighborhood policing and data-driven initiatives that distinguish it from some cities’ more aggressive crime reduction policies. However, budgetary constraints are affecting the public safety arena: the city’s police and fire forces cut staffing by about 6% and 5% respectively between early 2002 and 2004, tied to a decrease in state aid. (see indicator 8.1.1)
Violent crime decreased in Boston by almost 50% between 1990 and 2003. A recent upturn in youth homicide is linked to an increase in the city’s juvenile population, new gang-related activity, and fewer activities and jobs in the economic downturn. (see indicator 8.2.1) Boston’s adolescent population was projected to increase by 45% among 10-14 year olds and 38% among 15-19 year olds between 1995 and 2005 – ages associated with crime — according to the Boston Coalition Against Drugs and Violence and Northeastern University’s Heart of the City Project. The Boston Police Department reports that of 61 homicides in the city in 2004, 5 victims were 17 and under and 11 victims were 18- 19-year olds. While the percentage of students who reported carrying a weapon at least once in 30 days had decreased from about 28% in 1993 to about 16% in 2001, the rate rose to 17% in 2003 according to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, YRBSS. (see indicator 8.5.1)
The number of residents who reported feeling very safe when they were out alone in their neighborhoods at night increased from 16% in 1995 to 37% in 2001, but the rate fell to 32% in 2003, according to Boston’s Public Safety Survey. (see indicator 8.3.1) In line with the rise in homicides in the city in the summer of 2004, a Boston Globe survey conducted by KRC Communications Research in August reported that more than half of Bostonians surveyed believed the city was less safe than the previous year, and one in three described crime as the most important problem facing Boston today, ahead of both education and affordable housing.
The Boston Police Department launched Operation Neighborhood Shield in August 2004, implementing enhanced patrols to respond to rising homicides, following models they had developed for the Democratic National Convention. Police data report that 26 homicides occurred between August and December of 2004. Some community leaders have questioned whether Operation Neighborhood Shield unfairly targets black men.
New technologies are giving rise to both new law enforcement tools and types of crime. The Boston Police Department is incorporating the latest technological advances in their work, including advanced ID imaging and ballistics identification technology, a computer-aided dispatch system linked to Mobile Date Terminals, and in-house DNA capacity available to only 18 departments nationwide. However, technology has also given rise to new forms of criminal activity, such as identify theft — and experts predict that technology will bring about a future trend of crime perpetrators located further away from their victims.
Homeland security funding is increasing. Following 9/11, Boston has devoted increasing resources to securing major institutions, boundaries, and vulnerable infrastructures. Boston received a $15.4 million federal homeland security grant in 2003 to be shared with eight surrounding cities and towns. However, cities much less likely to be targets also received significant federal funding. The Boston Globe reported in 2003 that since 9/11, the federal government increased funding for bioterror defense in research in Massachusetts from $1.8 million in 2001 to $32 million.
The Boston Police Department’s 30-year, court-ordered, affirmative action policy of hiring one minority member for every white candidate was eliminated on November 23, 2004. Officials noted that targets for racial equity had been met. Police Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole remains committed to a broad agenda of outreach to minority residents and has assigned police officers to recruit potential minority police cadets.
MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND INNOVATION 2002 – 2004
Creation of a Citizen Review Board is underway in Boston, to be charged with investigation of civilian complaints against the Boston Police Department. Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole re-launched the effort nearly a decade after a similar initiative was attempted unsuccessfully and the department is working with Northeastern University criminologist Jack McDevitt, who will deliver recommendations.
E-Lert, a program of the DotWell partnership between the Codman Square and Dorchster House Health Centers, sends police data three times per week to a section of Dorchester. The service alerts community residents about crime trends, supplies tips on crime prevention, provides information on how to report city service issues which could lead to crime (such as broken street lights) and sends monthly summaries to the local civic association. The initiative is under consideration for use city-wide.
A data "fusion center" was launched by the Commonwealth, using information from local police to identify regional crime trends and develop a statewide intelligence strategy.
Boston Police Department firsts and awards:
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The Boston Police Department (BPD) received the 2004 Leadership in Technology Award for its participation in the Criminal Alien Identification System.
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The BPD received the 2004 Community Policing Award for its Operation Homefront Program to support at-risk youth.
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Boston became one of the first Massachusetts communities to post names, addresses and photographs of dangerous sex offenders online.
The Governor’s Commission on Correction Reform’s 2004 recommendations for change are now being enacted. The Commission’s report noted that 97% of inmates statewide are released back into society inadequately prepared for successful reentry.
Visit the Hub of Innovation’s Public Safety Section.
REMAINING CHALLENGES
Disparities persist in the involvement of African-American and Hispanic men in police profiling and in the criminal justice system. Nearly half of respondents to a 2003 Boston Police Department Survey identified racial profiling as a perceived problem. Latino and African-American men were more than twice as likely than whites to have been stopped by police multiple times. The Northeastern University Institute on Race and Justice cites disparities in 249 of the state’s 366 law enforcement agencies studied, and a 2004 Sentencing Project report shows that in 2001, blacks were incarcerated at a rate seven times that of whites in Massachusetts.
Youth lack adequate employment and enrichment opportunities to help prevent criminal activity. The City of Boston reports that two-thirds of Boston children ages 5-14 live with a single parent or in families where both parents or caregivers work outside the home. While as many as 20,000 children ages 5-12 currently participate in after-school programming, at least another 15,000 would participate if sufficient, affordable and high-quality programs were available. The After-School for All Partnership explains that in the spring of 2003, the Boston Youth Fund for teen summer jobs was cut by almost 50 percent, decreasing from $6 million to $3.3 million.
Proven programs could target the often preventable causes of criminal behavior, yet resources disproportionately focus on emergency response and the criminal justice system. Preventable causes include child abuse, family support, mental health, substance abuse treatment, and literacy programs as well as programs offering constructive activities shown to prevent youth crime and violence.
Domestic violent crime -- often referred to as domestic violence -- rose from 1,287 in 2002 to 1,344 in 2004, a 4% increase, according to the Boston Police Department. (see indicator 8.4.2)
Teacher training is needed to recognize and address a range of mental and social problems that put children at risk for violent behavior, without stigmatization or outsourcing. Statewide focus on teacher preparation for high-stakes testing means that this type of training would exacerbate an already growing time and subject matter burden for teachers.
Ex-offenders face barriers to reentry into their communities. Studies show that many ex-offenders return to their communities with insufficient education and job-readiness skills. The Stanley Jones Clean Slate Project reports on the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) law, which severely hinders ex-offenders’ access to employment and housing. Public safety experts also link some ex-offenders to a growing gun market that makes firearms accessible to youth.
Homeland security concerns continue to reshape the public safety arena in Boston, and resources have been diverted from community safety. The emergence of new fears — such as the ramifications of a terrorist attack on a Liquified Natural Gas Tanker in Boston Harbor — point to the need for vigilance. Yet redirection of funding to homeland security has caused significant reductions in federal and state funding for existing law enforcement programs, and Boston Police are looking at innovative ways to use homeland security funding to continue community policing programs.
Need exists for greater inter-agency cooperation and an information sharing approach that overcomes a single-organization focus and fear of failure. Public safety experts attest that despite progress in collaborative efforts, there is a continued need for real policy and information sharing between public safety players.
COMPETITION
Homicide rates dropped in many US cities in 2004. An Associated Press survey cited in The Boston Globe notes that 2004 homicide rates declined in New York, Chicago and Washington D.C. in 2004, attributed to more officers on the streets and the upping of patrols in certain neighborhoods. Boston was cited as an exception for its increased number of homicides, along with St. Louis, Detroit, and Baltimore.
Massachusetts ranked last in the nation for bioterrorism preparedness, according to the Trust for America’s Health. The report cites a declining public health budget and lack of cooperation between state and local health officials for the poor showing. Massachusetts officials however, have disputed this critique, according to the Boston Globe, citing that the state has one of the country’s strongest public health systems and is adequately prepared.
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