Chief: Brookline crime down 17 percent

By Brock Parker, Globe Correspondent

Despite a bad economy, Police Chief Daniel O'Leary said serious crimes were down 17 percent in Brookline in 2009.

"I do have what I think is pretty good news," O'Leary told the Board of Selectmen Tuesday as he presented the town's 2009 crime statistics.

Assaults were the only serious crime that increased in Brookline in 2009, O'Leary said, increasing from 168 in 2008 to 180 last year. 

But there were no homicides; robberies were down from 31 in 2008 to 27 in 2009, and the number of rapes reported decreased from eight in 2008 to four in 2009, according to crime statistics compiled by Brookline Police.

Burglaries dropped 40 percent from 165 in 2008 to 99 last year, and larcenies and motor vehicle thefts were also on the decline.

Overall, O'Leary said the number of serious crimes reported in Brookline was down from 1,166 in 2008 to 972 last year for a 17 percent decrease. The 2009 numbers also show a 57 percent drop in serious crimes in Brookline since 1994, O'Leary said.

While crime often increases when the economy is not doing well, O'Leary said Boston Police have also seen an overall drop in crime in the past year.

But selectmen praised the efforts of Brookline Police.

"I don't know how to get this number this low," said Selectmen Chairwoman Nancy Daly. "I think it is a testament of all the hard work of your department."