New Boston Police data released this week show shoplifting crimes are on the rise in the city. On Thursday, officials outlined steps from the 2024 Safe Shoplifting Initiative they say is tamping down on non-violent crime despite statistics showing larceny incidents so far this year have already outpaced the five-year average.
According to the Boston Police Department’s Part One Crime tracking data for the first six month of 2025, “Other Larceny,” an offense that includes shoplifting and other crimes, totaled 4,185 incidents so far this year – up nearly 23% past the city’s five-year average. The Boston Police Department did not immediately clarify what portion of those “Other Larceny” incidents are shoplifting, but did say through a spokesperson “So far this year, reports have increased 15% over last year at this time.”
Asked about the figures, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said mid-year statistics are difficult to discuss and attributed the rise to increased calls to police.
“The more people report, the more our stats might go up in this particular area,” he said during a press conference.
Cox said the Safe Shopping Initiative enlisted analysts from the Boston Regional Intelligence Center to help target violent, repeat and high-value thieves.
“This allows us to address safety, security, and retail stores throughout Boston, leveraging our combined resources and collective experience to deter crime, reduce shoplifting incidents, and protect consumers and retail staff by focusing on the drivers of crime,” he said.
“While we recognize that we will not eradicate shoplifting, we are working together to encourage better reporting and eventually lead to a reduction of crime in general in this area.”
A BPD spokesperson later added that shoplifting-related arrests have jumped “82% compared to 2024, and 230% above the 5 year average,” as evidence the department is making an impact on the problem.
Mayor Michelle Wu said Boston Police have also increased foot patrols and added lights to enhance visibility and deter crime in Nubian Square as part of the city’s shoplifting deterrence initiative.
“We’re taking an all of government approach here, leaning on all of our partners, and the Safe Shopping Initiative will ensure that we are now applying these strategies to an important quality of life and health and safety and wellbeing issue for our businesses, our residents, their customers,” Wu said, adding that the Safe Shopping Initiative will continue.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden echoed the initiative’s focus on certain offenders who drive statistics up, adding that “low-level offenders, driven by unfortunate circumstances [and who] require an alternative, will be handled with diversionary measures.”
Hayden said so far, the office’s Services Over Sentences program, which helps those struggling with homelessness, substance abuse and/or mental health issues in the area known as Mass and Cass, has already received more than 100 referrals for the year, though it is unclear whether those referrals result in automatic qualification for the voluntary program.
Boston is among several so-called “blue cities,” where Democratic voters have tended to support ultra-progressive policies, but are now shifting towards more hardline stances against crime typically preferred by conservatives.
The DA’s select diversions for shoplifters represents a shift away from his progressive predecessor Rachael Rollins, who advocated for addressing issues that are often considered root causes of crime like poverty, mental health and substance abuse, and who implemented a pattern of diverting or declining to prosecute offenses like shoplifting and larceny under $250.
Rollins went on to become U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, then later resigned following two federal investigations that concluded she used her position of power to influence the Suffolk County DA race in favor of a political ally running against Hayden, and had other ethics violations.
Mayor Wu, who indicated support for the do not prosecute policy as she campaigned for her seat in 2021, downplayed the shift from a diversion first approach toward increased prosecution.
“I think then and now there has always been diversion and prosecutorial discretion exercised,” she said.
The initiative update came as Suffolk County copes with the court-mandated release of accused criminals who lack legal representation as public defenders across the state have stopped working to push for higher wages.
DA Hayden acknowledged the work stoppage creates public safety concerns, but added his view that while defense attorneys do need and deserve higher pay, elected officials “have to grapple” with the hard questions of how to achieve merited increases amid budget constraints.
“None of us really know the answer,” Hayden said, “but people have to be represented by council. That’s a constitutional issue.”
Leaders from several local business associations including Roxbury Main Streets, the Downtown Boston Alliance and the Back Bay Association, appeared alongside the mayor, the DA and the police commissioner Thursday in a show of support for the ongoing Safe Shopping Initiative.