Theft Crimes Decreasing in Boston

By Ali Bhanpuri

DOWNTOWN—Robbery, burglary, larceny and vehicle theft have declined in the last four years, shocking even police officers.

In the A-1 district—Beacon Hill, Charlestown, Chinatown, Downtown and the North End—robbery has decreased 11 percent, burglary 34 percent and larceny 9.7 percent between Jan. and Sept. from 2005 to 2008, according to crime statistics on the Boston Police Department’s blog. Vehicle theft has dropped the most, from 190 reported incidents in 2005 to 101 in 2008—a 47 percent decrease.

“There was a big push [for awareness] over the last couple years,” said Officer Johnson, a 10-year veteran of the department, who declined to disclose his first name. “We placed pamphlets and stickers on vehicles that have anything valuable in plain sight, letting drivers know to be more careful.”

Carrie Perruzzi, 38, who parks her car at the Aquarium garage each morning, said she
hasn’t seen a greater police presence, but an increase in private security companies.

“I think [the private security companies] increase was due to 9/11, not the city,” she said. “Private companies expanded their security budgets—mostly real estate owners and property management companies.”

Johnson said he doesn’t deal with vehicle theft incidents while on patrol because victims go directly to the station to file a report, but “on a given day—7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.—we usually get four or five calls” for larceny.
The Macy’s department store in Downtown Crossing and the CVS Pharmacy on Cambridge Street are his most frequent callers, he said.

A detective at Macy’s loss and prevention department said shoplifting has increased since August.

“When I first started working in April, we contacted the police maybe three or four times a month,” said the Macy’s detective, who declined to say her name. “For the last two months, we have had about three incidents a week.”

The police department tackles theft with its Trace program, a collaborative effort by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Criminal History System Board, the National Crime Information Center, the FBI and Trace, a private company. The department extends stolen property information to different law enforcement databases across the country to help people find their stolen possessions.