Boston is the safest it is has been in a generation. We all have a part to play in Boston s safer streets. Bostonians have less fear of crime because, as our surveys have shown, we know our neighborhood police officers. Bostonians feel safer walking outside at night, thanks to community policing and the rise in neighborhood crime watches. In 1999, forty-nine new Crime Watch groups formed, bringing the total number to 1,042.
Residents continue to organize and together they are succeeding in making our community safer.
There is no doubt that the Boston Police Department is among the finest in the nation and shines as a beacon for police departments across America. As host of the Regional Community Policing Institute, Boston also shares its successful community policing strategies with other police forces throughout New England. Attorney General Reno and President Clinton frequently tout the effectiveness of anti-crime measures and prevention programs developed here in Boston and recommend them as models for other cities to follow. I look to you, the people of Boston, to continue to work with each other and with the Police Department, to make this the safest city in America. And I salute Commissioner Evans and the Boston Police for their daily professionalism and courage on behalf of all of us.