Boston Homicide Squad Worst In The U.S. (According To 2005 Article)

I had posted an earlier version of this blog entry just a few days ago, and mysteriously enough it disappeared. Someone out there may be touchy! At any rate, I discovered an article from a 2005 issue of the Boston Phoenix that pointed out some rather sobering statistics about our local police department’s ability to solve homicides. The situation may have improved since then. I can’t say, but the “good” part of me hopes so. Nonetheless, here are some highlights of how things stood six years in the past:

1) While the homicide acquittal rate for urban counties nationwide was 6 percent, 27 percent of homicide cases brought to trial in Boston in the eight years prior to 2005 had resulted in acquittals.

2) When the murder victims were black males between 17 and 35, the arrest rate was only 31 percent.

3) Boston’s murder rate between 2001 and 2005 increased more than 50 percent over the rate for the previous four years, while at the same time the homicide rate had been declining in most American cities.

I would imagine the Boston police department has made some effort to rectify these shortcomings since then, but they don’t indicate a healthy trend. And, hey, some of my own relatives were Boston area cops. One of my Irish grandfather’s cousins became a cop back in the day, and so did a couple of his sons. Get your act together, boyos – if you haven’t already.

And, you know, Free Speech, dudes!

The Worst Homicide Squad In The Country (Boston Phoenix)