Boston shootings were up last summer, but city is sticking with similar safety plan

The City of Boston is largely sticking to the same summer safety plan despite police statistics that show shootings were up during the hottest months last year Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox commented Tuesday that over the past years roughly of the city s annual gun violence has taken place during the first three months of the summer The number of shootings was up last year between June and August when there were casualties shot in incidents Cox declared That represented a increase in both shootings and casualties in that summer stretch over he stated The city s police commissioner insisted that gun violence is still down in Boston He commented last year s hot-weather victim total was below the five-year average and the third-lowest victim total in the summer since while adding that about of that gunplay occurred overnight between p m and a m on weekends That s why we say it s really significant that if you see something say something and let us know about it particularly as the summer months go Cox declared at a press conference in Dorchester that was held shortly after a man with mental fitness issues grabbed a police officer s gun and shot himself in the foot near Massachusetts General Hospital on Cambridge Street To prevent violence and retaliation Cox reported the police department will be focused on cutting down on so-called revelers particularly out-of-towners who engage in late-night drag racing that creates quality of life issues for city residents and honing in on the people who are driving the violent crime in Boston That s what we try to do all year long Cox stated of the latter strategy adding that officers have been deployed to hot spots since November to cut down on shootings Mayor Michelle Wu who rolled out a similar summer safety plan that she declared builds on what her administration has implemented in prior years was solicited by reporters whether last year s uptick in summer shootings had her concerned Boston s homicide rate has been a key metric that the first-term mayor who is running for reelection this year has been using to describe the Hub as the safest major city in the country which Wu touted again at the day s press conference Every circumstance of violence is too much in our communities and we know that for families in our neighborhoods the numbers don t reset every year in their daily lives Wu noted Overall we still see that the numbers if you just look at the statistics are below the five-year average and that the progress is continuing that these two years will likely be the lowest two years in particular time But we don t judge ourselves by just one year or just any single month It s about lasting peace and safety Wu s summer safety plan focuses on addressing the root causes of violence through a populace strength approach while creating conditions for peace and region healing her office noted Bisola Ojikutu the city s commissioner of inhabitants medical revealed this year s plan includes more of a focus on domestic violence which tends to increase during the summer months We haven t been paying enough attention to what s truly happening to our residents Ojikutu commented We want to build ceiling in this area and really deal with specific of the challenges that countless of our residents are facing within their household and with intimate partners Ojikutu mentioned that she ll be working closely on that front with Isaac Yablo who the mayor released Tuesday will be joining the Boston Constituents Wellbeing Commission as director of the Office of Violence Prevention Yablo will continue to work as senior advisor for the mayor s society safety company which is transitioning into the violence prevention office Wu announced Boston s violence prevention efforts this summer and beyond have also been boosted by a million donation from the Cummings Foundation the mayor announced The mayor nor her office could provide a cost estimate on what the city spends annually on violence prevention but numerous speakers largely comprising Black group leaders described Wu s budgetary commitment as a value declaration Other aspects of the plan include helping prior violent offenders reenter back into society after incarceration and expanding youth jobs and summer offerings to keep teens off the streets and safely occupied Related Articles Boston politicians honor Puerto Rican veteran population during Memorial Day event Super PAC backing Josh Kraft spends M on advertising opposing Mayor Michelle Wu Boston Water and Sewer Commission fired its HR director with a K payout amid civil fraud assertions City looks to improve response times with new South Boston ambulance center in Seaport Josh Kraft son of billionaire Patriots owner puts million of his own cash toward his bid for Boston mayor State Rep Russell Holmes a Mattapan Democrat announced there necessities to be more state funding directed to cities for gun violence prevention saying that such a line item in the budget should reliably spark a larger conversation We re not done Holmes declared Every single time there is something moving in that Legislature the Black and Latino caucus demands that we look and address what the root cause is for us of what s still driving it and that is a belief that you can kill someone and get away with it There are too multiple unsolved murders in the commonwealth