If you think this has seemed like an especially violent year in Boston, you're not wrong.
According to data supplied by the Boston Police Department, homicides in the city are up 12 percent and fatal shootings 28 percent over 2017.
Through Tuesday, there have been 47 homicides in Boston this year, up from 42 over the same period last year. And the 2017 data included two incidents that actually occurred in 2016 but weren't ruled homicides until last year.
The past two weeks have been particularly violent, with eight people killed in shootings. The most recent was on Monday night, when 24-year-old Alicia Restrepo was found dead in a car in Dorchester, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
Community leaders and residents spoke out in the wake of the recent spate of violence, saying more needs to be done. Mayor Marty Walsh and Police Commissioner William Gross met with officials last week to discuss what can be done to keep residents safe.
So far this year, there have been 41 fatal shootings in the city, compared to 32 at this time last year. That's well above the 5-year average of 28 fatal shootings. The number of total shootings, including those that did not prove fatal, is down 17 percent since last year, from 200 to 166.
The number of total aggravated assaults, including domestic and non-domestic, have also risen slightly — about 1 percent — since last year.
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Other crime statistics have seen significant decreases in 2018.
The number of rapes and attempted rapes is down 18 percent, the number of burglaries 17 percent and the number of robberies 14 percent. Auto thefts are down 4 percent and larcenies less than 1 percent.
Overall, total violent crime is down 4 percent and property crime 3 percent. Total arrests have also declined about 11 percent, from 8,790 in 2017 to 7,764 in 2018.
