Brookline Crime Up: Police Release 2020 Year In Review Stats

BROOKLINE, MA — Crime went up in 2020, according to the Brookline police department year-in-review report released March 15.

In addition to a homicide —the second in town since 2006— there were 777 Part A crimes reported in town, an increase of nearly 28 percent from the 608 reported in 2019. With the exception of reported rape, the town saw increases in robberies, assaults, larcenies and car thefts compared with 2019.

Ex-Wife Accused Of Manslaughter In Noted Brookline Man's Death

There were two reports of rape in 2019, and only one reported in town in 2020.

Robberies went from 11 the year before to 15 in 2020. Assaults went up to 120 from 103. Burglaries stayed the same, Larcenies went up to 582 from 440. And car thefts went from eight to 16.

As the same time crime was increasing, arrests were down nearly 40 percent, according to Acting Chief of police Mark Morgan. Amid 2020, 206 people were arrested down from the 343 the year before.

"The decrease in arrests was partly due to a change in department operating procedures, where due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officers were encouraged to seek court action rather than place individuals under arrest," Morgan said.

Only 49 were categorized as residents of Brookline.

Of those people who were arrested, 109, or about 53 percent of them, identified as white. Some 32 percent - or 65- identified as Black, 19 or 9 percent identified as Latinx. The majority, 83 percent, were men.

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The deaths

In 2019, 20-year-old Cole Kern was stabbed to death in Amory Park. That was the town's first murder since 2006. In that case, Singha Oeun, 21, of Egmont Street was charged with murder.

In January 2020 a Brookline woman was arrested and charged in connection with aggravated assault. He later died and the charged changed to involuntary manslaughter according to court documents this year. In Brookline, the charges were categorized as "domestic violence situation," and were not released to the public at the time. Read more: Ex-Wife Accused Of Manslaughter In Noted Brookline Man's Death

Previous years

The number of Part A crimes during the past decade has decreased from a high of 1,043 in 2010 to a low of 608 in 2019. Between 2016 and 2020 the number of Part A crimes have stayed below 800.

In the past three years the percent of people arrested who identify as white has gone up, and the percent identified as Black has gone down slightly from 2019, but is still above what it was in 2018.

When it comes to traffic enforcement, in 2020 police issued 23,400 moving violations, down from 13,745 in 2019. Of the drivers given citations, 57 percent were white, 18 percent Black and 11 percent identified as Latinx, according to police data. The percents are about the same as the past three years.

Use of Force

This year use of force by officers was also down from last year.

In 2020, there were 24 instances where police reported they used force, including four instances where police displayed their gun during an interaction and three instances where they pointed their gun at someone. In 2019, police reported two instances of pointing their guns.

Read the full 2020 Year End Report: