Car Breaks in Charlestown Are up, Skewing the Overall Crime Stats in the Neighborhood

Boston Police released the first quarter crime stats for Charlestown and while the 52 percent increase in Part One Crime in the neighborhood may seem staggering at first, a closer look at the stats shows that car breaks are the main culprit for the dramatic increase.

Part One Crimes are the more serious crimes the Boston Police keep track of and when comparing January, 2020 through May, 2020 with the same time period during the first quarter of 2019 Larceny from Motor Vehicles have more than doubled in Charlestown.

In the first quarter of 2019 there were only 21 motor vehicle larcenies but that number has increased to 59 so far this year. It seems the number of motor vehicle largencies, an opportunistic crime that only takes seconds to pull off, is up all over Boston.

Citywide the number has gone from 777 in the first quarter of 2019 to 981 so far in 2020.

After three recent arrests of criminals breaking into cars the Boston Police released a statement.

“The Department obviously takes great pride in the fact that arrests were made in all three incidents, we would, nevertheless, like to take this opportunity to remind community members to employ common sense preventative measures to protect items of value when exiting their vehicles,” said the statement. “As simple as it may sound, protecting your motor vehicle from a break-in starts with locking the doors and closing windows. Simple? Yes. But, highly effective.”

In fact, simple steps can often spell the difference between your car being broken into and the would-be thief moving on to another, more desirable target.

“More than anything else, thieves look for the easy score,” said the police. “So, don’t make it easy. If you have items of value, be it a cell phone, charger, money or iPad, take them with you when you exit your car. Because if a thief can see it, you can be sure he or she will do everything they can to steal it.”

As for other Part One Crimes in Charlestown there have been zero reported Homicides for 2020; Rape or Attemped Rape is is down from 1 to 0; Robbery or Attempted Robberty is up from 2 to 5; Domestic Aggrevated Assualt is up by one from 9 to 10; Non-Domestic Aggrevated Assualt is down from 10 to 6; Commercial Burglaries remain the same at 1; Residential Burlgaries are up by six from 4 to 10; other Larcencies are up by one from 33 to 34; and Auto Theft is up by one from 6  to 7.

So far this year there has been a total of 132 Part One Crimes, up from the 87 reported in the first quarter of 2019.

Again, police are reminding residents that of the 45 additional Part One Crimes reported so far in 2020, 38 of those crimes have been traced back to motor vehicle larcenies and is the main reason for the total increase.  As always, if you observe any unusual activity or observe a car theft or a break-in in progress, don’t hesitate to call 9-1-1.

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