Is Boston Common really getting more dangerous?

Some city officials and local business owners say yes.

Local business owners and elected officials are raising concerns about an apparent uptick in crime in and around Boston Common.

Police data reaffirms at least some of these fears, showing at least somewhat of an increase in total crime in the area in comparison to recent years.

There were 113 total violent crimes reported in the Boston Common, Downtown Crossing, and the Public Garden through Sept. 17 of 2019, compared to 136 during that time period in 2024, according to Boston Police Department data shared with Boston.com. Total property crime went from 487 through Sept. 17 in 2019 to 532 through that date this year.

Boston Common Area Crime Data

Crime Category201920202021202220232024

Homicide001120

Rape & Attempted505213

Robbery344573454861

Aggravated Assault748061746572

Commercial Burglary12501062633

Residential Burglary333042

Larceny From MV284832232319

Other Larceny427263344410467467

Auto Theft171227282611

Total Violent Crime113125140122116136

Total Property Crime487376416467546532

Total Part One Crime600501556589662668

Statistics cover Jan. 1-Sept. 17 of each year for the area comprising the Boston Common, Downtown Crossing, and Public Garden. Source: Boston Police Department.

Anecdotally, meanwhile, people who work on or close to the Common say things they’ve seen have made then worried about safety in the area.

Just this summer, a man was shot and hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, four people were injured in a road rage stabbing incident, and a man was allegedly seen chasing people with a machete.

Over the last few months, Daniel Berger-Jones, head of the Boston History Company, said he has noticed a lot of “aggressive behavior” in the area.

“It’s not the beautiful park that … it is supposed to be at the moment, but rather a place where you have to watch where you step,” he said. “It has a feeling that something bad might happen at any time.”

Local business owners speak out

Daniel Berger-Jones said bad reviews of his tour company as a result of visitors’ reactions to the area are negatively affecting his business.

“Boston is dangerous. It’s unsafe. It’s trash. Stay away,” an unsatisfied tour goer wrote in a one-star review.

“It wasn’t even a review of our tour necessarily,” Berger-Jones told Boston.com, but of the state of the Common in general. “And obviously that affects our company.”

Hibat Allah, general manager of Bakey, a bakery on Tremont Street overlooking the Boston Common, said she made the decision to change her business hours because of safety concerns.

“It’s not a safe area after like 7 p.m.,” Allah, who has worked at the bakery for over three years, told Boston.com.

Since last summer, Allah said she noticed an increase in disturbances, including theft and trespassing in her store, and said she calls 911 roughly every two to three weeks to report an incident.

With more food items being stolen from the bakery, Allah said she had to move her products to a less outward-facing shelf in the store.

Officials respond

Ed Flynn, a Boston city councilor representing the neighborhood, told Boston.com that he goes to the Boston Common area and Downtown Crossing nearly every day and first observed an increase in crime during the pandemic.

Flynn said he has also heard concerns from his constituents and local businesses.

“What I’ve noticed is the open drug dealing taking place in Boston Common, the ongoing violence, and we know that there’s human trafficking taking place,” he said.

In response to a question about a plan to address safety issues at an unrelated event in Chinatown on Sept. 9, Mayor Michelle Wu didn’t offer any specifics, saying only that she will continue to make sure that Boston “remains the safest city in America.”

“We know that the first impression of our city is extremely important and the downtown area and Boston Common is a place where we welcome visitors from all around the world,” Wu said.

Events in question

Flynn, meanwhile, has even called for events in Boston Common to be canceled, following a stabbing in Downtown Crossing last month.

Councilor Henry Santana responded, rejecting Flynn’s calls to suspend the events, arguing they support local businesses and the tourism industry.

“I believe public events on Boston Common and in Downtown Crossing are a part of the solution, not the problem,” he wrote in a statement. “We shouldn’t let a handful of bad actors force us to sacrifice the events that bring us together and build the community spirit that makes Boston unique.”

Despite a few “isolated incidents” of disruptions, Brittney Holland, general manager at Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, said Shakespeare on the Common has not canceled any shows.

“The nature of any big public space is that there are always going to be elements beyond anyone’s control,” Holland told Boston.com. “The landscape around us has changed over the years, but the support that we feel from the community has been really consistent.”

Police presence

Flynn said he has asked the Boston Police Department to increase police presence in the area, and filed a hearing order in July to discuss staffing concerns.

Mackinley Celestin, who has worked as a security guard for multiple businesses in the area for over 20 years, said police have been taking longer to respond to calls since the pandemic hit.

“When you call 911 we expect the 911 to respond quickly,” Celestin told Boston.com. “We need to have a foot patrol down here to check in on local businesses.”

The Boston Police Department told Boston.com that it has increased proactive patrols in the district by some 26% over 2023 levels.

“The location of those patrols is prioritized daily based on intelligence, data, and feedback from the community,” the department wrote in an email.

With the issue ongoing, Flynn said people in the area should be “alert” and “observant.”

“Be with a group of people,” he said. “I would be hesitant to recommend to people to travel through Boston Common at certain parts of the park and at certain times.”