The Jan. 13 West Roxbury Civic and Improvement Association (WRCIA) meeting hosted a presentation by members of the Boston Police Department (BPD) of the Community CompStat Model, highlighting various features including annual crime statistics for Boston and West Roxbury/Police District E-5.

The findings showed a significant drop in major crimes. Citywide, violent crime is down 6 percent; property crime is down 1 percent. Within those categories, assault is down 5 percent, burglary down 9 percent, but commercial burglary is up 10 percent, due most likely to shop-lifting. Residential burglary is down 18 percent. There has been a significant decline in residential burglaries, overall, for the past 10 years.

In West Roxbury/District E-5, total annual (2024-2025) crime is down 33 percent, property crime down 17 percent, aggravated assaults down 41 percent, and burglaries down 10 percent. Major crimes were down 30 percent.

Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox was on hand to explain the working relationship between police officers and the community. “They work really hard to provide public safety, but we can’t do it without public input. We want to hear from you.”

A short questionnaire was distributed for feedback. “We need to hear from you to be sure our priorities are aligned with what you’re looking for,” said Cox.

Elizabeth Curtis, deputy director of Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC), said COMPSTAT is designed to provide comprehensive data that can be used in reducing crime. Periodic high-level staff meetings offer analysis of year-to-date, quarterly, month-to-month information.

“We also look at other data sets… robberies burglaries, aggravated assaults, auto theft; we study patterns and trends, conduct analysis, and focus on ‘hot spots.’ We give that presentation to the command staff … allow them to make more informed decisions on where to deploy resources.” She said information also flows both ways, as a District Commander can request an analysis of 911 calls to proactively deal with any problems.

“We can take specifics and assign a patrol unit, see what’s going on,” Curtis said.

Lt. Det. Michael Kern reiterated the need to hear from the community in a timely manner.

“If you don’t do a report, it never happened,” he said, giving an example of gunshots fired in an area but never reported until someone found a bullet hole in their window the next day. “We’re 24 hours behind the call.”

The crime dashboard is available online for public viewing and shows the number of crimes committed by location (police precinct or neighborhood), the type of crime (including assault, auto theft, burglary, fraud, drugs, harassment, homicide number and other categories). To get access, go to https://tinyurl.com/4ntjp4eb

Audience questions were varied. “I’m just curious … the CVS on Centre Street. I tried to buy something and almost everything has to be locked; they’re being broken into,” said one woman.

“There’s an increase in shoplifting; I don’t know if you’ve noticed we have the cruisers out in front of CVS,” responded Sgt. Nicole McMullin. “We have a zero-policy tolerance here; we arrest for shoplifting. The officers are walking around, trying to deter the shoplifters. We are seeing an improvement in the shoplifting numbers.”

Another attendee asked, “Do you keep track of response time based on the category, 911?” While the exact numbers were not available, McMullin said, “We already have 10 officers on shift (referring to E-5) with nine on the road. I would say a number of minutes.”

Patrcia Conners, who is with West Rox Bikes, asked, “A bicyclist was doored while biking on Centre Street in West Roxbury and had to be transported by ambulance to the hospital with injuries. Bicyclists are concerned about safety of the bike lanes. We’re wondering if the police ever work with the streets department coming together about what kind of barriers could work between the bike lanes and where cars park.”

Connors was told that police handle signage, and the Transportation Department takes out barriers for snow removal.

“Have you noticed an uptick in accidents?” Connors asked. Officers said they had not noticed any uptick in accidents, as they have gone down city-wide.

Overall, the audience was appreciative of the presentation. One attendee noted that while previous police commissioners have been invited to WRCIA meetings, this is the first time that one has shown up.

The WRCIA meets every first Tuesday of the month at St. Stephen’s Church on Washington Street in West Roxbury.