Mass & Cass arrests up by 77 percent as violent crime increases

BOSTON — Boston Police confirm that arrests along the Mass and Cass corridor have increased by 77 percent compared to this time last year.

According to police, 140 arrests have been made in the area so far this year.

Data shared during a virtual community meeting on Thursday indicated that violent crime in most categories, including robberies, assaults and rape, is up from 2021.

Community activists, business owners and neighbors told Boston 25 News they’re worried about what’s in store for the summer months.

“You probably have three times the amount of homeless than you did last year,” said Gerry DiPierro, owner of DiPierro Construction. “You got to get the drug dealers out of here.”

DiPierro said the removal of tents at the start of the year has not improved imminent public safety concerns.

“The addicts here have free reign. They do whatever they want,” said DiPierro. “They use our buildings as bathrooms. They shoot up right in front of our buildings.”

During Thursday’s meeting, Boston Police officials painted a picture of a revolving door of criminals and drug use plaguing the area and spanning outward.

“We do need the help. It’s basically overwhelming for the police department,” said BPD D4 Capt. Steven Sweeney. “We’re also having serious issues in Copley, down in Victory Gardens.”

Sgt. Peter Messina, head of BPD’s Street Outreach unit, shared one example of a regular occurrence at Mass & Cass.

“We arrested a female at 10:30 a.m. yesterday for multiple warrants.  She was back out in the Mass and Cass area at 4:30 in the afternoon,” said Sgt. Messina.

Sgt. Messina said the city “definitely can’t arrest our way out of this” and believes the perception of the area needs to change.

“The perception down there, when I’m doing outreach, is that people can openly use drugs, they can openly buy drugs without any repercussions whatsoever,” explained Sgt. Messina. “That has to change.”

According to Sgt. Messina, police arrested a suspect on Wednesday with 131 grams of fentanyl, five bags of meth and two bags of crack cocaine.

“These are the individuals we need to remove from the area,” he added.

The city of Boston also shared an update on its efforts to help people shift from six transitional housing sites to more permanent housing.

“There are real housing efforts going on, and we are seeing some results,” said Sheila Dillon, Chief of Housing and Director of the Department of Neighborhood Development.

The city says 137 people out of 181 at the city’s six transitional housing sites are actively working with a housing navigator

Dillon said 82 of those people have a housing resource identified.

According to Dillon, 800 units of permanent supportive housing are in the pipeline.

300 of those units are currently under construction.

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