West Roxbury Neighborhood, Boston MA Crime Index
The District E-5 of the Boston Police Department serves the West Roxbury neighborhood. According to the Police Department, the neighborhood recorded 554 crimes in the 2020 fiscal year, a 7% increase in reported crimes compared to 2019. When considering the overview of Boston’s total crime rate for the year, West Roxbury contributed 3.5% of the total crimes reported in Boston, a jump from 3.1% recorded in 2019.
The District Police Department reported the following crime statistics
98 Violent Crimes (A 6.5% fall compared to the previous year)
- Murder - The neighborhood did not report any case of murder in 2020, the same as the previous year.
- Rape - West Roxbury witnessed eight cases of attempted and actual rape. It had reported seven in 2019.
- Robbery - The robbery cases recorded in 2020 dropped by 33%, with 18 cases reported in the year, against 27 in the previous year.
- Aggravated Assaults - Total cases of aggravated assault were 72, comprising 37 domestic and 35 non-domestic incidents. This breakdown indicates that domestic aggravated assault rose by 5 cases, while non-domestic cases fell by four incidents.
456 Property Crimes (An increase of 9.8% as against the 2019 fiscal year)
- Burglary- West Roxbury reported 61 cases of burglary in 2020, consisting of 4 commercial and 57 residential burglary cases, a 22% increase in the number of total burglary incidents over the past year.
- Larceny - A total of 353 cases of theft occurred in the neighborhood in the year. One hundred fourteen incidents fell under the Larceny from Motor Vehicle category, while 239 qualified as other Larceny. Considering there were 324 recorded cases in the past year, theft incidents fell 8.9%.
- Motor Vehicle Theft: 42 auto theft incidents occurred in the year, one more than the figure in 2019.
- Arson - The district Police Department did not report a case of arson in 2020.
Boston Municipal Court - West Roxbury Division
The West Roxbury Division of Boston Municipal Court handles all criminal and civil cases from West Roxbury. The court also considers appeals against government agencies’ actions, such as the firearms license and unemployment compensation appeal. The courthouse offers mental illness sessions. It is situated at:
445 Arborway
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Phone 1: (617) 971-1200 - (Clerk’s Office: press 1)
Phone 2: (617) 971-1200 - (Probation Department: press 3)
Email: bmcwestroxbury@jud.state.ma.us
The courthouse is open from Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
From the trial court statistics available for the year 2020, the West Roxbury Division of the Boston Municipal Court filed a total criminal caseload of 1,437. Also, it reported 2,043 Criminal Show Cause Hearings, 112 Probation Violation Hearings, 131 Criminal Search Warrants, 415 Administrative Warrants, and 675 Abuse Prevention Orders. Furthermore, it recorded 521 Civil case filings, two Civil Remands, 1,530 Small Claims Filings, 91 Summary Processes, 73 Supplementary Processes, 602 Civil Motor Vehicle Infraction filings, 132 Judge CMVIs, and 700 Mental Health hearings.
Housing Court - Eastern Division
The Eastern Housing Court presides over cases on residential housing, civil actions for damages, evictions, breach of contract, discrimination, property damage, and code enforcement actions. The court also hears appeals for the residential housing decisions of the local Zoning Boards. Also, the court offers legal services such as legal strategy and advisory, form filling, representative mediation, and guidance on understanding legal rights.
24 New Chardon Street
Boston MA 02114
Phone:(617) 788-8485 (Clerk’s Office)
Phone:(617) 788-6233 (Housing Specialist Department)
Email: EasternHousingCourt@jud.state.ma.us
The courthouse is open from Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Housing Court division of the Boston Municipality Judicial Department aggregates the case filing statistics for the entire municipality. The available statistics revealed that the Eastern Housing Court Division had a total of 10,144 case filings in 2020, out of which it resolved 1,384 cases through Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADR). The total number of cases disposed of for the year was 6,322. For a case-by-case breakdown, available data revealed the following case fillings, with the number of cases disposed of given in parenthesis:
- 631 (545) Civil cases, 333 (328) Criminal cases, 693 (732) Probable Cause cases, 274 (278) Small Case cases, 4,452 (4,089) Summary Processes cases, three (four) Supplementary Processes cases, 382 (345) Ticket entries, and one Search Warrant issued and disposed of.
West Roxbury Juvenile Court
The West Roxbury Juvenile Court oversees Criminal, Delinquency, and Harassment cases, while the Boston session hears Child Requiring Assistance, Jury Trial, and Care and Protection cases. All the Juvenile Court sites located within Suffolk County hear Mental Illness and Substance Abuse cases. The location of the courthouse is at:
445 Arborway
Jamaica Plain MA 02130
Phone: (617) 971-1154 (Clerk’s Department)
Phone: (617) 971-1246 (Probation Department)
Email: suffolk-jccallctr@jud.state.ma.us
The courthouse is open from Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Since available statistics are aggregated figures for all of Boston Municipality, the Massachusetts Trial Courts Statistics presented the following for the 2020 fiscal year in Suffolk County
a total of 3,061 case filings comprising
four Adult Criminal case filings,
72 Adoption case filings,
620 Delinquency case filings,
51 Guardianship Case Filings,
37 Harassment case Filings,
29 Youthful Offender case filings,
27 Paternity Support case filings,
10 Substance Abuse case filings,
43 case filings of Failure To Cause,
338 case filings of Child Care and Protection,
626 case filings of Child Requiring Assistance,
1,162 case filings of Applications for Complaint,
one Civil Contempt case filings,
two Mental Illness case filings, and
39 case filings of Young Adult Permanency.
Suffolk Probate and Family Court
The Suffolk Probate and Family court presides over probate and family matters, child custody, paternity, divorce, parenting time, abuse prevention, adoption, and parental rights termination. The court also handles matters relating to wills, name change, guardianship, conservatorship, and estate administration. The Court opens on Mondays to Fridays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
24 New Chardon Street
Boston, MA 02114
Phone 1: (617) 788-8301 (Register’s Office)
Phone 2: (617) 788-8210 (Probation Department)
Email: Suffolkquestions@jud.state.ma.us
The Trial Courts Statistics for 2020 showed that Suffolk County Probate and Family Court had a total of 11,576 case filings. This number consists of 4,135 cases of Divorce, 1,008 cases of Contempt, 247 cases of Special Immigration Juvenile Status, 78 cases of Child Adoption, 1,863 Modification cases, 170 cases of Abuse Prevention, 1,943 Estate Administration cases, 1,244 cases of Guardianship, 112 cases of Equity, 252 cases of Conservatorship and 524 cases of Change of Name.
Suffolk County Superior Court
The Suffolk County Superior Court presides over cases concerning felony, medical malpractice tribunal, civil action over $50,000, and matters relating to labor relations where equitable relief is sought.
The courthouse hours are on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at
3 Pemberton Square
Boston, MA 02108
Phone 1: (617) 788-8175 (Civil Clerk)
Phone 2: (617) 788-8160 (Criminal Clerk)
Phone 3: (617) 788-7255 (Probation Department)
Email: Suffolkcivil.clerksoffice@jud.state.ma.us (Civil Business)
Email: Suffolkcriminal.clerksoffice@jud.state.ma.us (Criminal Business)
The Trial Court records for the 2020 fiscal year revealed that the court had 4,668 case filings, consisting of 1,322 Criminal and 3,346 Civil cases.
Pandemic Precautionary Measures
Currently, courthouses in West Roxbury, and more generally the Boston Municipality, conduct most businesses remotely in compliance with COVID-19 safety measures. For cases that mandate in-person visits, the courthouse administration provides safety guidelines and requires strict compliance. Also, parties have access to helpful information to navigate the courts’ remote services.
