BOSTON (WHDH) – Around 400 children from every neighborhood in Boston got in the holiday spirit Tuesday night while they shopped with Boston police officers at a Target in Dorchester as part of the 17th annual Shop with a Cop event.

“It is far better than the North Pole and a little warmer, too,” Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox joked.

The joy is all made possible by the Boston police department, the Boston Police Foundation, and its sponsorship partners.

“This is what they truly do,” said Dan Linskey, Vice Chair of the Boston Police Foundation. “Cops care, and our Boston cops care about our community, care about the kids, and leading the way to make sure kids have a great holiday season.”

The event started more than a decade ago with about 100 children, and soon grew to what it is today.

Officers involved said they know the true meaning of Christmas is sharing joy with the community.

“The first time kids are seeing a police officer, if it’s a positive experience with the magic of Christmas, that’s a lot better than a negative interaction with a police officer any time,” said Linskey.

Other law enforcement agencies also got in on the fun, with members of the MBTA transit police to the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department also shopping until they dropped.

“I’m thankful for all our officers who care so much not only about the residents but the kids. This is a kids event. That warms my heart,” said Cox.

(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Boston’s rental market has tipped ever-so-slightly in renters’ favor, partially owing to out-of-state migration, a cooling biotech industry, and tighter student visa restrictions, according to a recent Bloomberg report. 

On the one hand, vacancies are the highest they’ve been since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the average rent in Boston has dipped for the first time since 2021, Bloomberg reported. 

On the other, the city’s average asking rent still clocked in at $3,043 in October, and reporting from The Boston Globe indicates that rents in Boston’s urban core have risen sharply between 2022 and 2025, despite the recent slowing.

Still, decreasing demand has left landlords dangling price cuts and other concessions in a bid to lure tenants.

Over in Cambridge, according to Bloomberg, a three-bedroom unit near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been sitting vacant for more than five months — even with a price cut from about $4,200 a month to $3,550. Landlords elsewhere are going into bargaining mode: new tenants at Luka on the Common in the Theater District can get one month free and a $500 gift card, while renters who sign a 17-month lease at The Indie in Allston can get up to three months free. 

Desperately needed additions to the region’s housing supply have helped ease demand; Boston’s metro area added 8,600 units over the past year, about 20% higher than its 10-year average, Bloomberg reported, citing RealPage Chief Economist Carl Whitaker.

But according to the news outlet, it’s “economic jitters” driving down rents — not an oversupply of new developments.

The recent reversal follows years of growth fueled by the region’s biotech industry, now beset by plunging valuations, layoffs, and cuts to federal research funding. Separately, as Bloomberg noted, immigration raids and student visa restrictions have taken their toll on international student enrollment, leaving some of Boston’s college-heavy neighborhoods emptier than usual. 

“I’ve been doing real estate and technology for 30 years. I’ve never seen anything like this,” Demetrios Salpoglou, CEO of Boston Pads, told Boston.com in August. “It’s very acute. It’s not impacting all neighborhoods … it’s really proximity to a lot of universities that have a heavy reliance on foreign money or foreign enrollment.”

Adding to the uncertainty, Massachusetts was one of just two states that saw negative employment growth for the 12 months ending in August, according to Bloomberg. And while it remains unclear how long tenants will have the upper hand, there’s a push underway for a 2026 ballot question that would tie annual rent growth to cost of living increases, with a 5% annual cap. 

In the meantime, according to Bloomberg, landlords and agents are hoping to see leasing activity bounce back in the new year. 

“Everyone’s anxiously waiting to see what happens in the spring,” Damian Szary, an executive at the real estate firm Redgate, told the news outlet.

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

Authorities are investigating the death of a Suffolk County House of Correction inmate who was found unresponsive at the Boston detention center Sunday night, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

The inmate was taken to a hospital where he died, the district attorney’s office said. Prosecutors are investigating his death along with Boston police and are awaiting results from the inmate’s autopsy.

The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, which runs the detention center, identified the inmate as 32-year-old Shacoby Kenny, Boston 25 News reported. On Sunday night, he “began exhibiting erratic behavior and physically attacked” detention center staff.

The sheriff’s department said that Kenny ran around his unit and tried to evade correction officers before he was brought under control, after which he became unresponsive, Boston 25 News reported. Medical staff at the detention center performed life-saving measures before he was taken to a hospital.

The sheriff’s department said that Kenny has been detained at the Suffolk County House of Correction since February, but was temporarily sent to Bridgewater State Hospital — the Massachusetts Department of Correction’s psychiatric hospital — in July, Boston 25 News reported.

No further information was immediately available Monday night.