Winter Helps Keep Crime Incidents Low

If there is a silver lining to the snow and cold, it could be that crime incidents are down 40% in the district, according to A-1 Captain Ken Fong at Thursday night’s North End Public Safety Meeting.

Specifically in the North End / Waterfront area, overall crime is at very low levels. Police noted there has been an uptick in Breaking & Entering reports, but otherwise a negligible amount of violent crime.

On January 23rd at 166 Salem Street, a vandalism call came in to Boston Police that a man was yelling and screaming outside. When officers responded, a Dorchester man claimed his girlfriend lived there. That was unverified, but he was arrested based on witness accounts for breaking down a door and being a disorderly person.

At 28 Fleet Street on January 24th, 2:47 am, a young female heard a noise and reported that someone was trying to enter through a fire escape into her kitchen window. The male suspect was apparently scared off before entering.

On January 25th, 2:05 am, at 20 Bartlett Place, a male victim reported that another young male tried to enter his apartment through the window. The victim banged on the window and the suspect was scared off. It is not clear if this is related to the Fleet Street incident on the previous night.

On January 27th, Caffe Lil Italy, 178 Salem Street had its window broken with a tire iron. Cash was stolen from the establishment. Detectives continue to investigate this incident.

Two auto thefts were reported in the neighborhood recently. On January 25th, a 2016 Porsche was stolen from Fulton Street. On the previous day, a Honda Pilot was stolen from Richmond Street.

A couple of larcenies were recently reported including a handbag from Stillman Street and a pickpocket of a Samsung Galaxy cell phone at CVS on Hanover Street.

Boston Police made two arrests during the past month in the North End. The first was for the aforementioned Salem Street attempted breaking and entering incident. The second was for a domestic assault and battery incident at 452 Hanover Street where a male suspect was charged.

BPD said the Super Bowl celebrations were quiet in the North End as most of the crowds gathered toward Boston Common.

Police have been actively working intersections during recent traffic jams in downtown Boston. Captain Fong noted the two recurring sticking points have been around Mass. General due to pent-up medical appointments and TD Garden events such as the Beanpot.

The cold snap has resulted in added outreach efforts to ensure homeless citizens are getting to shelters. Officer Teddy Boyle has been working overnight shifts with emergency personnel. He noted that many of the new homeless are young males from the suburbs, kicked out of their own towns and drawn to services downtown. A new Bay Cove center has helped alleviate some of the surge as a drop-in center that can accommodate 65-70 people. While not prevalent in the North End, officers find homeless groups at nearby North Station, Downtown Crossing and Chauncey Street.

The annual BPD District A-1 youth ski trip to Killington is set for the weekend of March 25th with about 70 neighborhood kids.

The next Public Safety Meeting with Boston Police is scheduled for March 5, 2015, 6:30 pm at the Nazzaro Community Center, 30 N. Bennet Street. All are welcome to attend.

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