What do you even want me to say at this point, respectfully?
Boston, MA
Boston Police say homicides are up 30 percent as Mayor Wu sticks to ‘safest major city’ claim
Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox reported homicides are up nearly 30% this year, as Mayor Michelle Wu continued to tout Boston as the safest major city in the country at a year-end public safety briefing.
Cox said there have been 31 homicides in the city thus far this year, compared to 24 for all of last year, but said that number still reflects a near record-low for the city — and represents a 16% decrease from the city’s five-year average.
“In comparison to last year’s 67-year low in homicide rates in the city’s history, we have had an increase, although we don’t know what the final number will be,” Cox said Monday at the Boston EMS Training Center in West Roxbury. “This year still represents a 16% decrease from our five-year average, and the lowest number in the last 20 years, but for the 67-year low I made mention to.”
The 29.1% uptick in homicides was reported by the police commissioner at an end-of-year public safety briefing that was a more tempered affair than how 2024 police statistics were reported last December.
At last year’s press conference, Cox boasted that the “city has never been safer,” when joining the mayor in rolling out end-of-year crime statistics that featured a record-low number of homicides and shootings.
The number of murders in 2024 “appears to be the lowest since 1957,” and is “by far” the lowest amount since the Boston Police Department began tracking such data in 2007, when there were 68 homicides, Cox said at the time.
Wu, who was gearing up for a reelection campaign at the time, pointed to the data as evidence that Boston is the “safest major city in the country.” She stuck to that same refrain on Monday, despite the uptick in homicides, and a significant spike in shoplifting that was also highlighted by the police commissioner.
“Being a home for everyone means being there, not just during the good times, but all the time,” Wu said. “It means showing up for families, even when they feel the ground beneath them is falling through and when they’re having the worst days and the worst moments of their lives.”
Referring to the city’s public safety teams, including police, firefighters and EMS personnel, Wu said, “It’s because of the care, the hard work, and the empathy of these teams that Boston is the safest major city in the country.”
Isaac Yablo, Wu’s senior advisor for community safety and director of the Office of Violence Prevention for the Boston Public Health Commission, said the city’s approach to tackling gun violence has shifted from focusing solely on five hot-spot neighborhoods to “a city-wide focus, so that more residents are being met where they’re at and we’re addressing needs more holistically.”
“As we look into the new year, we will continue focusing on secondary and tertiary prevention, but the main goal will be primary prevention — preventing the violence from happening in the first place,” Yablo said.
Cox said the Police Department has “doubled our efforts in community policing,” following last year’s record-low gun violence, which he said has led to “historic lows” for this year’s number of shooting victims and gunfire incidents. Both are down more than 30% compared to the department’s five-year averages, he said.
Shoplifting, however, remains “an issue in our city,” Cox said, which has led to the police department making retail theft an increased priority alongside its efforts to “sustain lower levels of violence” — with the two sometimes overlapping.
He attributed that increased focus, by way of a Safe Shopping Initiative the department has partnered on with the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office, to a 113% increase in arrests for shoplifting this year — driven in part by a “substantial increase in timely, more detailed reporting from the retailers.”
“This increased reporting supports Boston Police Department’s ability to address repeat violent and high-volume offenders with the ultimate goal of keeping shoppers and retailers safe,” Cox said.
The police commissioner also shared statistics that suggest crime is down at the troubled intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, an area commonly referred to as Mass and Cass and known for being home to the city’s open-air drug market, as well as the downtown.
Police have targeted Mass and Cass and the downtown in recent years, following reports of increased violence and drug activity, Cox said.
Around downtown, violent crime has declined by 24% this year and police have increased patrols there by 31%, compared to last year. Officers have made 48% more arrests in the downtown, including 30% more drug arrests, he said.
The police commissioner said violent crime is down 8% and property crime has decreased by 10% this year in the Mass and Cass area. Arrests at Methadone Mile have increased by 54%, Cox said,
Cox did not elaborate on whether those statistics for Mass and Cass extend to hot-spot areas like the South End, where residents have complained of open-air drug use, dealing and violence that has spilled over into their neighborhoods.
He also highlighted the department’s focus on reckless motorized scooter operations, which have become a nuisance for residents. To date this year police have seized more than 840 electric scooters, including 160 from the downtown area, representing a 22% increase in seizures since last year, Cox said.
The police commissioner said seizures are made for illegal, unregistered scooter operations.
Before I get on my soap box and complain for however-many words, let me just quickly say that I appreciate the fact that you’re here. It’s a holiday Monday, you could’ve done anything else with your long weekend, and yet you decided to read the upset ramblings of a man who is really pissed off with his shitty baseball team. For that, I thank you. Isn’t that the American Dream, what I’m living out right now?
Tongue-in-cheek comments aside: I’m exhausted, folks. Not with the writing—I’ll be here on OTM until the bitter end—but with the watching. Forgive me for the stream of consciousness this week, but I don’t know what else to do.
The 2026 Boston Red Sox are a chore to watch. I don’t really remember the last time I’ve ever felt that way in my life. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt that way, actually, now that I think about it. I was in high school in 2012; I still had that youthful spunk where I wanted to watch my team. I was still probably riding enough of a high after 2013 to ensure that the following two season weren’t a monotonous watch. Even the non-‘21-and-‘25 teams in the 2020’s weren’t this miserable to sit through at this point in the season, at least for me (your mileage may vary).
After a sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Twins, the Sox are dangerously close to being 10 games under .500, as if avoiding that label would be any fucking consolation prize for a team that was getting AL pennant shouts two months ago (and I’m guilty of that too! I had Seattle winning the pennant over us! Not that the Seattle prediction is going well, but my goodness!). This team is a joke. They are, simply put, pathetic. I’m not sure how in depth I can go with that as my basis right now.
Perhaps this is just my own personal reckoning with the situation, but doesn’t this feel like the right time for it? The unofficial date to begin worrying about your team has always been Memorial Day. We’re there now, and I think the season’s just about over already. There’s no generational prospect coming up through the minors to help us. The coaching staff has already been cleaned out. The money is being allocated by FSG in some capacity, for all the ownership group’s faults, yet here we are. The roster construction is still a mess and it will continue to be a mess for the immediate future.
To quote a wise sheriff…
If there’s a way out of this mess, I can’t personally see it. I try to be as optimistic as possible, but I do not see a path to 270 electoral votes this year. I’d love to eat these words in a few months, but I don’t believe in this group. I’ve seen enough. I’ll keep watching because I’m a sicko. I’ll keep writing about this team because I love writing and I love the Red Sox and I love this lil’ gig I’ve been blessed with getting. But I sure as hell do not love this iteration of the team, man. We’ll have plenty of time to talk about what needs to happen to right the ship (I don’t want to be rash, but I’m becoming more and more of a #BreslowOut guy as the days go on, slowly but surely), but as for right now: I think the prospects we had in late March about this team contending in October are just about done and dusted.
If you’re a consistent reader, you know that I like to dive into the developments that have happened over the course of the week in the MMBB, whether they’re good or bad. That practice will continue for the rest of the season. I’ll try to be as optimistic as possible moving forward in 2026, but just know that I’m probably harboring a sense of dread alongside any positive words I have until I’m given a reason by the team to feel otherwise. Why waste my time by thinking things could be getting better this season when I’m talking about any consistent trends that Jarren Duran might’ve had at the plate this week? The last time I did that, he sucked for another week-and-change. I did the same with Marcelo Mayer before then, and it’s been even worse for him. I could talk until I’m blue in the face about the positive trends being made by a Payton Tolle or a Sonny Gray or a, dare I say, Brayan Bello when he’s being preceded by an opener.
Doesn’t matter, dude. We suck shit.
All of those positive trends could be true in a vacuum, but I don’t think they’re gonna ultimately matter this year—short of something extraordinary happening. The pitching’s been pretty solid overall, the defense has been stellar, and I’ve tried finding the positives in an underwhelming lineup. All of that together has gotten us eight games below an even .500. We’re a laughing stock in the league; a banter club, if you follow the Premier League. We’ve got Buster Olney saying we’ve got to abort the Caleb Durbin experiment. The question of “What the fuck are we doing in the front office” is a legitimate one at this stage. To get even more existential, another great question is “What is the plan moving forward?”
We’ve got nothing going for us on a consistent basis. Even after a sweep in Kansas City, the team goes and shits their pants yet again at home. The only time I’ve ever given true credence to the idea of momentum not being a thing has been with watching this collection of guys representing the Red Sox, because I haven’t seen an ounce of it this year. What is there to look forward to for the last four months of the year?
I guess I’ve gotta answer that question for myself. Maybe you do as well.
Again: I’ll be here for y’all. I’ll talk about positive and negative trends as I see ‘em, because I like talking ball. I love this team, I love this sport, and I love talking about both the team as well as the sport.
But I suppose this is my official declaration that I’m not gonna be fooled by this specific group going forward. I’ve been patient enough thus far; the patience is gone. I’m not holding any reservations for them for the rest of the year, because they don’t deserve those reservations. We’ve crossed the Rubicon, if the Rubicon was filled with poo. Maybe we’re drowning in that Rubicon instead, come to think of it. Either way: I don’t see a way where we could be going back.
I’ll still watch, I’ll still write, I’ll still support, but I don’t believe in this group as things currently stand. I’d love to be proven wrong, but I don’t think I’m alone in this sentiment. What have they done to prove otherwise? I’ve tried putting a spotlight on positive things (and I’m not trying to sound like the end-all-be-all of Sox analysis here, folks; this is just my personal ramblings) and they haven’t amounted to much of anything. I don’t care how bad the American League is. We’re a prime example of that suckiness. How many times can the boy cry wolf? How many times can the Sox blogger cry positive regression?
I dunno, folks. I’m just exhausted with this team already. I think it’ll be a………………………………………..
Song of the Week: “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift
I swear I didn’t go into this aiming for it to be a 1,200+ word set-up to a stupid joke, but if the shoe fits….
Same time and same place next week, folks. Go Sox, I guess. Who gives a fuck anymore?
Fellow firefighters paid somber tribute at the fire house where Robert “Bobby” Kilduff, who many referred to as “BK,” served for decades with the Boston Fire Department. On Sunday, black bunting was hung in honor of Kilduff, who died Saturday night after falling from the third floor while battling a Dorchester fire.
“He was the heart of this fire house, he is going to be missed sorely. He is irreplaceable,” Lt. Greg Kelly said.
Kilduff’s fellow firefighters were brought to tears as they remembered their friend and brother. They placed his boots on the floor and traced an outline onto the cement following his death.
“Bobby Kilduff is exactly the definition of what you would imagine a true firefighter should be,” Boston firefighter Lector Tavares said.
All of the residents of the Dorchester home where the fire broke out Saturday night made it out safely. A mayday call was issued when Kilduff fell. He was rushed to the hospital but did not survive.
“BK was the quintessential rescue man. Just in the last 48 hours prior to this fire, he was involved in rescuing a girl who was trying to jump off a building,” Lt. Kelly said. “When the mayday came in, I couldn’t imagine it could be BK. He’s usually the one saving people.”
Not only did Kilduff spend decades in the fire service, but he also spent years serving his country in the U.S. Marines.
Kilduff was also part of the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, hosting training scenarios for elected officials about the dangers firefighters face.
Kilduff leaves behind two adult children. His girlfriend and her two children. The fire remains under investigation at this time.
“He prioritized so much the importance of being a dad. He loved his kids so much,” Capt. Kevin Preston said.
Funeral arrangments have not yet been announced.
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