SUMMARY
Overall, property and violent crime in Boston declined by 8.4%, or 2,632 incidents, between 2007 and 2008, continuing to decline into 2009 and extending a steady drop since the last peak in 2001. However, citywide averages obscure a sharp increase in youth violence and homicides in geographic “hot spots” for which new policing practices and a new public-private initiative have been launched such as
StreetSafe Boston
, a $20 million partnership targeting youth and particularly gang-related violence, even in the face of tightening budgets. In terms of other threats to public safety—from exposure to environmental toxins and terrorism to disease pandemics—the City of Boston has greatly increased coordination internally and across geographic and institutional boundaries.
Print the Public Safety Summary
WHAT IS THE PUBLIC SAFETY SECTOR?
The Public Safety sector consists of criminal justice and public law enforcement agencies as well as consumer protection and public health agencies representing all levels of federal, state and city government--from federal Homeland Security officials to state-supervised youth workers to police officers, and firefighters and other first responders. It also includes many community- and faith-based organizations that work in alliance with the public sector to promote safety such as the Dorchester Youth Collabroative,
Project RIGHT
,
TenPoint Coalition
,
Ella J. Baker House
and
Roxbury Youthworks
. The City of Boston is within the jurisdiction of several Suffolk County law enforcement offices. The
Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office has teams of attorneys, advocates and investigators in nine district and municipal courts, with eight in the City of Boston, with specialized units to handle some cases involving child abuse, sexual assault, elders, juveniles and gangs. Most felonies committed in Boston are tried in
Suffolk Superior Court and most serious crimes committed by defendants under age 17 are adjudicated in the Boston Juvenile Court. Cases are appealed to the
Massachusetts Appeals Court
or the
Supreme Judicial Court
. Other Suffolk County law enforcement offices include the Suffolk County
Sheriff’s Department and the Suffolk County
House of Correction
. State public safety departments include the
Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety
, the
Massachusetts Department of Correction
. The Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) is the Commonwealth’s juvenile justice agency, “promoting positive change in the lives of those in our custody,” while the Department of Children and Families is charged with protecting children from abuse and neglect. Federal agencies such as the US Departments of Justice and
Homeland Security
, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), the Federal Trade Commission for consumer protection, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental
Protection Administration (EPA),
the
US Coast Guard
,
US Attorney’s Office
and the
FBI all provide essential public safety and emergency-management services through local or regional offices, most located in Boston. Programs such as
Northeastern University’s Institute on Race and Justice
and College of Criminal Justice, Harvard
University’s Kennedy School and Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management, area hospitals such as Children's
Hospital Boston
,
Massachusetts General Hospital
,
Beth Israel
and Brigham and Women’s as well as regional organizations such as the Metropolitan Area Planning Council are essential partners in the local and regional public safety network.