Majority in survey feels city less safe

More than half of Bostonians surveyed said they believed the city is less safe than it was a year ago, and they were dissatisfied with city government's crime-fighting efforts after a spate of fatal shootings and stabbings this summer, a Boston Globe poll conducted last week indicated.

Sixty-one percent of respondents said the city was doing a "fair" or "poor" job in fighting crime.

Boston's black, Hispanic, and Asian residents, who have been disproportionately affected by the violence, felt the most vulnerable: Only 27 percent of those respondents said they felt "very safe" in their own neighborhoods, compared with 49 percent of non-Hispanic whites. Nearly one in five black, Hispanic, and Asian respondents said they know someone who has been the victim of a crime involving a gun or knife in the past year, compared with one in 10 non-Hispanic whites.

When people were asked whether their neighborhood playground was safe for children, 38 percent of black, Hispanic, and Asian respondents said it was. Sixty-three percent of non-Hispanic whites said they believed the playground closest to where they live was safe. Among non-Hispanic whites, 33 percent said the park was either "unsafe" or "depends on time of day," while for blacks, Hispanics, and Asian respondents, the comparable number was 54 percent. Several of the recent shootings have taken place in parks.

Boston has far fewer homicides than cities of similar size, such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and New Orleans. But nearly one in three poll participants described crime as "the most important problem facing Boston today," far ahead of education (12 percent) and affordable housing (10 percent).

"Every time you open up the newspaper, crime is just escalating everywhere it seems, especially in the city. It's just so hard to understand, why all of a sudden there is another outburst of it," said Denise Chandler, a 43-year-old Roxbury resident who said she feels safe on her street but worries that the violence will reach it eventually. "I have a 16-year-old son, and I'm just scared to death about all this stuff going on around here."

The sudden spike in violence has pushed this year's homicide total to 45, four more than the number of victims in all of 2003.

In response, Boston has beefed up its policing in troubled neighborhoods and around parks, enlisting state and federal officers to help. It has also extended its summer jobs program for 1,300 teenagers through Labor Day.

Asked what the city should do to fight crime, 30 percent of respondents said it should put more police on the streets, 18 percent said it should expand job opportunities, and 17 percent said it should improve education.

The telephone poll of 400 Boston adults, conducted for the Globe by KRC Communications Research on Aug. 15, 16, and 17, has a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points.

Despite their concerns about crime in the city, few respondents held Mayor Thomas M. Menino or Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole personally responsible: Only 9 percent of those polled said Menino bore "a lot" of blame for the killings, and only 17 percent said O'Toole did.

About a quarter of respondents pointed to poor parenting and another quarter to harmful neighborhood influences when asked where, aside from the criminals, "the greatest responsibility for this situation lies." Only 8 percent named Boston police, only 6 percent chose Menino and O'Toole, and only 1 percent blamed the economy.

"I don't think you can fight crime as if all you have to do is shoot at people or take them into custody," said Jacqueline Lapidus, a 62-year-old writer and editor from Allston-Brighton. "The crimes are happening because kids are growing up without opportunities and without the feeling that they become whatever they want to become."

Anna Shaw-Baecker, a 53-year-old teacher in Boston's public schools and a lifelong Dorchester resident, said that "it really goes deeper than just making sure we have enough police officers." She said, "It really goes to what it means to be a parent."

But Ken King, 56, an automotive technician from Dorchester, scoffed at what he called "politically correct" attitudes, and said the authorities have to take a tougher line with teenagers who commit crimes. "They go to court and no matter what they do, they know if they're a juvenile they can get away with murder -- literally," King said. "If a 14- or 15-year-old kid kills somebody, he goes to [juvenile corrections] until he's turned out on the street again."

When Boston's homicide rate dropped to record lows in the late 1990s, many credited the activism of the black clergy for what was called "The Boston Miracle." But the poll's respondents indicated they had little faith in ministers to solve the problem now. Only 4 percent said religious leaders were "more likely to solve the problems that lead to violent crime," compared with 36 percent for family members, 28 percent for government officials, and 15 percent for the police.

Media coverage of this summer's slayings may have fueled residents' fears. But O'Toole said public attention on crime is critical to attacking the problem.

"It doesn't surprise me that there's great concern right now, and I think that's a good thing," she said. "We all need to be concerned. We can't afford to be complacent."

O'Toole said she expects residents to hold the police accountable for the increase in crime, and that citizens can expect to see more from the department in the coming months. She noted that the force has about 300 fewer officers than it did before Boston's two-year budget crunch, but now that the city's fiscal situation is improving, there will be two new classes of recruits next fall and spring. She also noted that the department has launched a program to monitor and help "key players" recently released from prison.

Scott S. Greenberger can be reached at greenberger@globe.com.