The seemingly unending rainfall in Boston has put a damper on lots of fun outdoor doings. Might it also be washing out some activities no one would be sorry to see go? Homicides and total shootings in Boston were both down last month, one of the wettest Junes on record.
According to preliminary data posted on the Boston Police Department’s blog, bpdnews.com, there were just three homicides in the city last month, compared with five in June of last year. While the low number of murders for any given month makes it hard to draw firm conclusions from such a shift, total shootings in the city were also down sharply, with just 14 reported last month compared with 35 for June 2008, according police department spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll. Through the end of May, total shootings had been up markedly compared with the same time last year, causing concern among police and community leaders. Through early May, the figures were 88 for this year vs. 63 last year; at the end of May, the numbers were 110 vs. 80. With the sharp decline in June, however, the total number of shootings for the first six months of the year is now only slightly ahead of the 2008 figure (122 vs. 113). The homicide count for the first half of the year stands at 25 compared with 29 for the first half of 2008.
Boston police commissioner Edward Davis (photo by Kathleen Dooher) said the rainy weather was certainly “a factor” in the steep drop in shootings last month. “People not being out on the street, the fact that they are inside their homes, reduces altercations and the kind of incidents that lead to shootings,” he said. But Davis said police have also been particularly focused during this time on driving down street violence. In early June, law enforcement officials gathered members of 17 Boston gangs together at West Roxbury District Court and delivered a stern message that continued violence would be met with full prosecutorial muscle, including the possibility of lengthy federal prison sentences. He said police also made a significant number of arrests of gang members charged with involvement in shootings.
The New York Times reported today that an analysis of summertime rainfall and homicides in Gotham over the past six years shows fewer murders when there is more rain. On days with no rainfall, the city averaged 17 homicides every 10 days during summer months. That number dropped to 14 killings for days with an inch or more of rain. When the analysis was restricted to Saturdays, which typically record the most homicides, the numbers were 24 murders for every 10 rain-free Saturdays and 18 for every 10 with an inch or more of rain.
A former Bronx homicide squad officer told the Times that during heavy rain showers, police would sometimes joke, “The best cop in the world is on duty tonight.”
Davis chalked up the dip in Boston shootings to bad weather and good police work. “It’s a combination of all those factors,” he said. “When it’s cold or rainy that certainly helps us. I’m just very glad shootings are down, whatever the reasons.”
