Downtown Boston Safety Efforts Cut Violent Crime by 29%. More Still Needs to Be Done
Eight months after declaring an urgent safety declaration for downtown Boston, police, city officials, and neighborhood groups convened on Thursday, Oct. 30, to evaluate progress and confront continuing challenges. “We…
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Eight months after declaring an urgent safety declaration for downtown Boston, police, city officials, and neighborhood groups convened on Thursday, Oct. 30, to evaluate progress and confront continuing challenges.
“We want to give a glimmer of hope and optimism from where we have gotten and where we want to go,” said Rishi Shukla, a 25-year downtown resident and co-founder of the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association, in a statement shared with MassLive. The group hosted Thursday's meeting at the Emerson College Theatre.
Representatives included Boston police officials, city councilors, and several city departments. Individuals in attendance were also chairs of other neighborhood committees, such as Beacon Hill and Chinatown, the St. Francis House homeless service, and Friends of the Public Garden, as well as leaders at Emerson College and Suffolk University.
Public outreach in Downtown Boston has included safety and infrastructure walks, public coffee hours, and surveys of more than 1,000 crosswalks to identify urgent needs. Additionally, business owners have noted that more pedestrians and fewer disruptive individuals have been reported.
MassLive stated that the main section of Downtown Crossing has received upgrades through new programs such as “Color Flow,” which brought yellow brick roads, new outdoor seating, murals, and live music performances that began in early October.
Shukla presented results from a survey conducted last November among 320 residents. That survey reported that nearly 71% of people felt less safe than at the start of the year. Shukla noted that when the survey was repeated in October 2025, results demonstrated a nearly 40% decrease in the proportion of residents who felt less safe.
Boston police Supt. Robert Ciccolo reported a 29% drop in violent crime and a 37% decrease in 911 calls for quality‑of‑life issues since the initiatives began. The goal to eliminate open drug use remains a work in progress.
According to MassLive, public health data shows a 65% decrease in syringe-related 311 calls and a 38% drop in overdose deaths, according to Bisola Ojikutu, the city's commissioner of public health.
Kellie Young, leader of the city's Coordinated Response Team (CRT), reported that approximately 200 people have been moved from the streets into inpatient treatment since September 2025.
Officials stress that while improvements have been made, more work remains. Councilor Ed Flynn stated that more police officers need to be hired each year, acknowledging the department for its coordination with the group. It's “critical we work together,” Flynn said. “We can't let up.”
