Mayor Marty Walsh and Police Commissioner Bill Evans dismissed criticism from City Councilor and Mayoral challenger Tito Jackson regarding the way the Boston Police Department and Walsh’s administration handle crime in the city.
In a WBUR/Boston Globe debate Wednesday evening, Jackson criticized Walsh for failing to uplift all Boston residents equally in the city.
“I want to make sure a life lost on Blue Hill Avenue is the same as a life lost on Commonwealth Ave in the city of Boston,” he said, “and I don’t necessarily believe that is the case in the city of Boston right now.”
“He’s completely wrong,” Walsh said during an interview with “Boston Public Radio” Friday. “We take every homicide seriously, there’s no question about that. For the councilor to insinuate that we treat [people] differently in different parts of the neighborhood, shame on him.”
“I’ll go as far as saying a life lost in the United States of America due to violence is senseless, particularly when we can do more about that, particularly when it’s gun violence,” Walsh continued. “I think we have to do a better job as a country in reducing the guns off the streets of America, urban America in particular.”
Evans, who joined Walsh during his monthly ‘Ask The Mayor’ segment on BPR, said Jackson’s comments were harmful to the force.
“We take it personally when we have a young kid killed on our streets, I don’t care what color they are,” Evans said. “For him to play politics with this is hurtful for my officers.”
According to Walsh, the recent shooting death of beloved Mission Hill shopkeeper and community figure Andres Cruz served as a wake-up call.
“You don’t hear of violent crime in Mission Hill,” Walsh said. “A lot of great activism there with the community, a lot of great activism with the business community, a mix of people, all different nationalities and genders and generations. It’s sad that that neighborhood had to go through that this week.”
Though crime in Boston is at a two-decade low, a recent uptick in violent shootings and homicides has plagued Boston neighborhoods including Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan.
“Our concern is that this year, we’ve had 27 homicides to date — 27 too many,” Walsh said. “Every single one of them has been something that we wish we could have avoided and prevented, and we’re going to work until it gets down to zero.”
“Everyone talks about the violence in the city of Boston, the violence in the neighborhoods,” Walsh continued, “when they talk about violence, they don’t realize that there are people that live in those neighborhoods that don’t want to have their neighborhood labeled with violence, and they’re doing a lot of good things to turn it around. I think when you look at Boston Massachusetts compared to the rest of the country, we’re still one of the safest cities in America.”
To listen to Commissioner Evans and Mayor Walsh’s full interview with Boston Public Radio, click on the audio link above.
