Newton saw a 117 percent increase in residential break-ins and a 63 percent increase in car break-ins in 2024, according to Newton Police Chief George McMains in a meeting with Newton’s Programs and Services Committee on Wednesday.
“The target appears to be jewelry, in most cases, valuables that they can pawn, or cash, things like that,” McMains said.
39 residential burglary incidents were reported in 2024, compared to 18 reported incidents in 2023, McMains said.
The majority of break-ins seemed to be crimes of opportunity, as 71 percent of car break-ins in 2024 involved unlocked vehicles, according to McMains.
“There’s no real targets for any of these,” McMains said.
McMains did mention during the meeting, however, that an assistant coach for the Celtics was targeted in a home robbery. According to the Boston Herald, an intruder broke into Amile Jefferson’s home in December 2024.
“We did have one crime that happened a couple months ago to a Celtics coach, his house was broken into, along with other Celtics players and coaches during a game when they were away,” McMains said.
McMains urged Newton residents to keep lights on, have cameras, or install motion-detecting lights, as these can deter individuals from targeting a home. Even an ADT sign could potentially prevent a break-in, McMains said.
Currently, there is no database for information on home or car break-in incidents. Officials are considering expanding the LexisNexis Community Crime Map database to include crime incidents in addition to the car-crash data in the website records.
“If folks have ideas on how we can do better community outreach, we’re more than happy to consider that,” McMains said. “And again, it’s not that we don’t want to share it. It’s just that we don’t know what’s most useful to the public.”
This past summer, Newton introduced Operation Safe Sidewalks, which according to a Newton Police Department press release, would increase the number of officers on foot or bike in neighborhoods, parks, and village squares. The initiative aimed to create police visibility to prevent crime and promote safety for residents.
In addition to Operation Safe Sidewalks, McMains said the Newton Police Department plans to increase community outreach to make officers more accessible to Newton residents.
“This year, we’re going to try to get more officers to do community outreach, whether it’s on a bicycle, pulling up to a park and hanging out with the kids for a little bit, or doing other events like that,” McMains said. “Those are things that I think are important, and I think it’d be, well, good for the community.”
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