Plymouth County

Numbers reveal Brockton crime rate falling

BROCKTON, Mass. — FBI statistics show Brockton’s crime rate is falling.

Recently, Plymouth County DA Timothy Cruz informed the Brockton City Council that key crime statistics in the city have been dropping for years.

All violent crimes in Brockton are down 20 percent over the last seven years.

And shootings in the city are down 35 percent, with the number of shooting victims down 26 percent over the same time period.

For Brockton police, it’s a very positive trend.

“There’s a lot more work to do. These numbers are good, we’re not going to say they are the best. But we like the work our men and women are doing,” Brockton Police Department Spokesperson Darren Duarte said.

Beyond the crime rate, the incarceration rate in Plymouth County is also dropping dramatically.

Since 2012 there are 79 percent fewer inmates at the Plymouth County House of Correction,

And there are nearly 50 percent fewer Department of Correction active inmates.

“As of about 4 weeks ago, the number of people doing time at the Plymouth County House of Correction, the number was 79. Seventy nine people,” DA Cruz said. “The right people are in jail. You focus your resources on the small majority of people doing the majority of the crime. When you focus on them and you remove them from the equation, you will see the numbers go down.”

Plymouth County DA Timothy Cruz tells me community wide programs like the Safe Streets initiative is having a major impact, as it brings together different agencies to help identify and help at-risk children and victims of domestic violence. It also helps former inmates, build back their lives after incarceration.

“Unfortunately, when you look around the country right now, you see crime escalating at all-time highs in major urban communities. So, when you look here in the city of Brockton, in the county of Plymouth, we’ve seen our numbers go down because I think we are doing smart stuff on both ends,” DA Cruz said.

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