Boston’s Mayor Michelle Wu announced, today, the City of Boston’s comprehensive plan for a safe, healthy, and active summer in all Boston neighborhoods. This year’s summer safety plan will serve as the foundation for the City’s ongoing, year-round efforts to address the root causes of violence through a public health lens, and create the conditions for community healing. Mayor Wu also announced the City’s first Plan to End Violence, a long-term, sustainable, data-driven, and visionary approach aimed at ending violence holistically and year-round through revamped commitment to community engagement and centering lived experiences of residents most impacted by violence.

“This summer will be filled with opportunities for young people and families to stay active and engaged in community,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “This year’s summer safety plan will serve as a critical step in moving forward for our work year-round to make sure our communities are safe, with coordinated activities across city departments for supports, resources, and fun.”

In an effort to ensure the City’s summer safety efforts across departments best reflect the needs of Boston residents, the Mayor’s Community Safety Team prioritized community engagement by hosting three rounds of engagement sessions to design, refine, and preview this year’s summer safety plan in partnership with neighborhoods. From February through May, the team hosted 27 meetings in BCYF community centers across nine neighborhoods, resulting in the most extensive community engagement strategy in the City’s history that informed the creation of the summer safety plan.

This summer, the City is focused on scaling up programming in key areas, ensuring neighborhoods are supported, strengthening violence intervention and prevention efforts, and reinvesting into communities across Boston that are most impacted by violence. Additionally, City departments are working closely with the Boston Police Department (BPD) to identify and focus violence reduction efforts in “opportunity zones,” areas that have historically experienced a higher rate of violence. BPD will provide a positive police presence in locations where violence is concentrated and supplement the City’s ongoing efforts to engage individuals at the highest risk for violence. To improve the quality of life in the neighborhoods, BPD will also coordinate closely with various agencies to address large-scale congregating and disturbances with a safe, preventative approach.

“Building Trust is the single most important piece of our overall strategy for public safety in Boston year-round. It’s what Community Policing is based on and it is what addressing and solving criminal activity is built on. We are a data-driven Department, but we know that partnerships are crucial to reducing crime and bettering our ability to address crimes that occur,” said Commissioner Michael Cox, Boston Police Department. “During the summer months there are more daylight hours, kids are out of school and there are more opportunities for encounters that in some cases lead to violence. We are focused on creating additional proactive, positive engagement opportunities for our officers in the Community. This includes working with our partners like the Mayor’s Violence Reduction Team, as well as YouthConnect and our BEST clinicians, to address the needs of individuals who may be vulnerable in our communities. BPD also continues to focus considerable attention on addressing what we call revelers. Those on off-road vehicles and ‘speaker cars’ that create unsafe situations and seriously impact the lives of our residents. We are also actively engaged in a working group focused on moped activity across our City. We thank the public and the business community for their partnership and support of our efforts to address these issues.”