Taken on September 3, 2026
Boston Common (CommonWealth Beacon/Michael Jonas)

IN THE SPAN of a few weeks this summer, violence unfolded across some of Boston’s busiest public spaces. On a Monday night, three people were shot steps from Boston Common. On a Wednesday, a man was fatally beaten at the edge of the Common as the sun rose. Days later, a Friday afternoon altercation ended in a stabbing on the Common. A few weeks later, a man was fatally stabbed inside South Station during the evening rush hour. The next morning, a domestic violence stabbing occurred near North Station.

The circumstances were different, and not every incident was random. That distinction matters. But so does what thousands of people encountered: blood, police tape, emergency vehicles, and violence in places they use every day.

Yet Boston’s public safety debate has increasingly become an argument about statistics.

One side points out, correctly, that homicides and some serious crimes are down citywide. Others point to the recent violence and say the numbers obscure what is happening on the ground. Both risk talking past the people who live, work, study, visit, and move through the neighborhood.

The data matters. Through the end of July, Boston had recorded fewer homicides than at the same point last year. But in the downtown core, per Analyze Boston data, assaults rose from 124 to 157, or nearly 27 percent, over the same period. Residents do not experience a citywide annual average. They experience a particular block, subway entrance, park path, or walk after dark. Those experiences accumulate.

We should not have to choose between acknowledging Boston’s real progress and demanding more when conditions deteriorate. Both can be true. An “isolated incident” is not the same as an inconsequential one. And a city can be comparatively safe while still having places and moments that demand urgent attention.

That is the gap Boston should focus on: the distance between what aggregate data tells us and what people are experiencing on the ground. A parent dropping off a child, a nurse leaving a late shift, a hospitality worker commuting before dawn, a resident walking her dog after dark, or a student crossing the Common does not experience public safety as a citywide trend line.

When statistics are cited to counter those experiences, trust erodes. And trust is itself a public safety asset. People who trust institutions report problems, cooperate with police, use public spaces, and remain invested in their neighborhoods.

The encouraging part is that we know how to meet this moment. In 2023 and 2024, downtown Boston faced many of the same concerns. In early 2025, government, law enforcement, businesses, institutional partners, nonprofits, service providers, and residents coordinated around specific hotspots and interventions. Conditions improved. That is not nostalgia. It is proof of concept.

For much of early summer, downtown also showed what is possible. Boston welcomed enormous crowds for major events while our parks, streets, and commercial corridors felt energetic, safe, and well-managed. As residents, we should not accept a lower standard once the banners come down.

The answer is not in slogans or spreadsheets. It is doing two things at once: visible police presence and consistent enforcement of laws and ordinances, alongside greater outreach capacity and behavioral health and addiction services. Treating compassion and safety as competing values is how we fail at both.

Residents cannot legislate or enforce laws. But we can organize, identify problems, offer solutions, and insist on urgency and accountability. That is the compact: residents do our part, and we expect our partners in government to do theirs.

In August, I helped convene 77 people representing 48 organizations and agencies for a downtown public safety working session. We reviewed downtown and Boston Common block by block. The point was not to organize another meeting. It was to turn shared concern and frustration into coordinated action.

Some of that action is already visible: increased police presence in key locations, renewed attention to problem areas, private-sector investments, and changes to public spaces. But public safety is not a destination; it must be earned every day.

Boston Common is our nation’s oldest public park. Downtown Boston is a regional gateway, a neighborhood, and an economic and transit hub. Its future depends not on winning an argument over whether crime is “up” or “down,” or whether incidents are “isolated” or “unrelated,” but on whether people can move through these places safely and with confidence.

Residents have high expectations for safety and quality of life. We all should.

The test is simple: Are people safe, and do they feel safe, walking through downtown’s streets, stations, and parks? Judge our progress by that standard.

Rishi Shukla is co-founder of the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association, co-chair of the One Downtown public safety task force, and a downtown Boston resident.