Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden spoke very favorably of Boston in terms of crime at the last official meeting of the West Roxbury Business Professional Association meeting (WRBPA), but said there is work to be done – particularly with retail crime and opioid addiction.

The WRBPA held its meeting on May 13 at The Corrib Pub in West Roxbury.

Hayden said he is currently in the fourth year of his first term and actively running a campaign for re-election. The primary this year is on Sept. 1, before Labor Day, he reminded the crowd.

Hayden said, unless U.S. President Donald Trump is speaking, most everyone else would agree Boston is far ahead of all major cities in terms of crime statistics and referred to it as “the city on a hill.” The reason Boston is doing so well is not the top level work of the Boston Police Department, the mayor or himself – it is the Boston community who work so well with each other.

“It’s because people like you who say, ‘hey maybe the Boston district attorney should come talk to us.’ That doesn’t happen everywhere. It’s through collaborations, neighborhood watch groups, together with government is what makes a difference,” he said. “It didn’t happen overnight. It happened over many years. But we are not done. We can do even better.”

He said he is a believer of criminal legal reform alongside public safety and is frustrated by people who think it has to be one thing or the other. He said he is fortunate to be working on a “safe shopping initiative” since violent crimes are so low in Suffolk County.

“Retail crime has gone through the roof.”

Having someone at CVS open the case to make a purchase is an inconvenience, but for him it is the concern of employees or shoppers saying they will not work/shop in a particular place due to feeling unsafe.

“There’s a difference between a down-and-out mother who needs diapers for her babies and someone who is shoplifting with impunity for major significant profit.”

Hayden and his cohorts want to address the repeat offenders who cause the locking of cases. He said the “downtrodden” also need to be held accountable but in a different way.

He referenced the large amount of effort done to Mass and Cass (Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard), which attracts a lot of homeless and drug addicts.

“People call it Mass and Cass but it isn’t Mass and Cass anymore. If you go to Mass and Cass it looks wildly different than it did years ago.”

But because of the closing down of encampments in the area, the problems spilled into downtown Boston, so Hayden said they dealt with it and figured out how to deal with the problem, at least to some extent. He acknowledged Boston Common is still a problem area, but he is working with community groups to alleviate it. After Downtown Boston, the South End also complained of the problem at their doorstep. Hayden says he addressed the South End’s issues with an approach called “services over sentences” which focuses on reform versus jail time. His goal is to penalize the drug dealers and offer services to people with a drug addiction problem. He is working on a comprehensive strategy for the South End to make sure it improves greatly from last year.

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“The only solution to addiction is recovery,” he said. Hayden himself said he is 30 years in recovery. For people who come into the court system who are in high need, he said he wants to provide such people with services if they are willing to help themselves.

He said when he first presented the initiative no one wanted to participate, so he spent his own money for the effort. Since it was so successful, the legislature funded it the following year. The year after that they received no funding so he said he took a Band Aid approach. This year the legislature provided $500,000 for this program. Services includes help with affordable housing, jobs, and recovering from addiction to get them away from Mass and Cass.

Hayden said the Boston’s homicide rates are not only low but clearance rates are up. Clearance rates are reported crimes that get solved. So when crime rates are generally low, law enforcement has more manpower to close cases. He referenced a shooting at the Caribbean Parade in 2023 where the shooter had an attachment to his gun which made it a semi-automatic. No one was injured despite the number of bullets released. While at trial, the accused cut off his bracelet and escaped, but recently Hayden and his team found the suspect, arrested him and he is now serving life in prison. “That is a dangerous and violent individual. When it gets to that level I don’t care how and why he got there. That’s a violent individual who needs to be taken off the streets so our community can be safe.”

A question from one member of the WRBPA was on a program dealing with animal cruelty, which led Hayden to link that to gangs and human trafficking and the newly-formed Human Trafficking Unit.

Someone else asked about the percentage of repeat retail offenders to which Hayden said that it is hard to pinpoint, but that organized retail theft in New York was on a whole other level. He emphasized that the offenders who steal en masse and sell again for profit are the ones who need to be stopped.

“Fewer people are incarcerated in Massachusetts than in any other state,” Hayden said. He then read crime statistics relating to West Roxbury. Homicides are zero for the calendar year. Homicide rates across Suffolk County are historically low. West Roxbury has the lowest crimes in many categories.

On a personal front, Hayden related how finding a home in Boston was a very difficult one – so much so he began looking slightly outside of Boston in Dedham, but then his current home on Beech Street became available and it was perfect, he said. Soon after former Gov. Charlie Baker appointed him district attorney in 2022, and his wife said, “Aren’t you glad we didn’t move out of Boston?”

Roslindale and West Roxbury are his home, he said with pride.

Hayden encouraged residents to get to know their new police captain for District E-5, Nicole McMullin. Jim Hennigan, president of the WRBPA, said she will be at the last WRBPA meeting in June. The informal gathering will include beer and wine and appetizers, provided by the WRBPA, courtesy of The Corrib Pub, a popular dining spot.