Boston will expand its Friday night youth summer programming to more neighborhoods this summer as part of a plan to stem the expected seasonal surge in violence in the city.
City leaders, including Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, announced a plan to keep neighborhoods safe this summer that includes the growth of Boston After Dark, a series of teen-focused events aimed at creating safe places for youth on Friday nights.
The Boston After Dark initiative was created in 2024 in response to a pattern of youth violence in the recent years. Boston’s Office of Youth Engagement and Advancement noticed that most of these incidents took place among youth that participated in summer programming, and identified a lack of opportunities for engagement after program or work hours, according to the city’s website.
“Starting from the first Friday when school ends to the last Friday before school starts, we have at least two and sometimes three events happening every single Friday,” said Pedro Cruz, executive director of the city’s Office of Youth Engagement and Advancement. “We have 16 events total that’ll be crossing 13 neighborhoods by the end of the summer.”
The city did not immediately respond to a question about which neighborhoods the program will be held in.
Wu said the safety plan is just one part of a year-round mission and a continued effort between residents and institutional partners.
“We will make sure that our residents continue to be a part of everything that we’re doing to monitor, to improve on, and to keep delivering resources,” said Wu at a press conference in Dorchester Wednesday. “Safety isn’t just one thing. It’s many things, all different parts of our city’s work and all different parts of our residents’ lives fitting together.”
Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said there are some main goals the city plans to address ahead of summer: Preventing violence as well as retaliation after violence if it occurs; getting guns off the streets; and addressing safety and quality of life concerns throughout the neighborhoods.
“We’re also working to continue reducing outdoor substance use, connecting affected residents with the right treatment and recovery services, and supporting their families,” said Wu. “We’re making sure every resident across every generation and neighborhood can go to their local park and not only find a beautiful space, but programming that keeps people excited, connected and active.”
As summer begins, the city will often see more issues or conflicts occur during the daylight hours, said Cox.
“There’s a lot more outdoor events, school is out of session, there’s a lot more get-togethers in general in the hot weather,” Cox said. “And sometimes people’s fuses can be a little shorter than normal or add frustrations and conflicts in general.”
Cox said while the police department will ensure public safety, the public is their “biggest and best partner.”
“This is a summer where we have a FIFA soccer event, the nation’s 250th anniversary. We have a lot of events in general,” said Cox. “Whether it’s a major event or in your neighborhood, we need you to say something if you see something by dialing 9-1-1 and letting us know.”
Violent crime in Boston has “decreased slightly” compared to last year, said Cox. The city has only had five homicides incidents so far this year, six fewer than the five-year average.
“Only two of those incidents involved gun violence versus the four where we had our historic low year was all gun violence, so we are decreasing in that aspect,” said Cox. “Incidents of gunfire in the city are down 12%.”
Isaac Yablo, Boston’s Senior Advisor for Community Safety said the city’s Office of Violence Prevention has also streamlined efforts to prioritize trauma-informed public health approach to addressing violence.
“This includes primary prevention, intervention, healing after violence, and investing in impacted communities,” he said. “When it comes to all of these things, especially prevention, city departments, our public schools, and our public health commission have been working together to increase youth programming and engagement and to create conditions for peace in the community.”
The office has also invested in an approach focused on preventing gun violence by looking at how the built environment contributes to violence, Yablo said.
The city’s Office of Violence Prevention offers a Life Course Health Unit which is addressing gun violence “by connecting the most proven risk individuals with mental health services, educational opportunities, and workforce readiness programs,” according to the city website.
