Newton saw an uptick in crime last year, especially in home break-ins and destruction of property, according to Newton Police Department (NPD) Crime Analyst Manager Mike Bozio.
“Newton is an attractive location for break-ins,” said Amanda Henrickson, head of the NPD’s Community Service Bureau. “We have a reputation of being a more affluent community.”
According to a report released in Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller’s newsletter on Feb. 14, residential burglaries more than doubled last year, from 18 in 2023 to 39 in 2024.
Property crimes—vandalism or destruction of property—saw a 14.1 percent increase, from 496 instances in 2023 to 566 in 2024.
Property crimes were often connected to hate incidents, specifically antisemitic ones, most likely due to political sentiment surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, according to Henrickson.
Among 74 hate-related incidents reported to NPD in 2024, 59 of them were classified as antisemitic. The next most frequent classification of hate incidents was anti-Asian, with three incidents in 2024.
“We had a number of incidents in our city where lawn signs were either damaged, defaced, or stolen off of a person’s property,” Henrickson said. “I believe, out of the total number of hate or bias incidents, 67 of those involved signs that were either pro-Israel or pro-Palestine.”
Bozio said that Newton classifies antisemitic hate crimes with a more specific distinction than is required federally.
“In our systems, we have our records-management systems, all of those instances would be reported as anti-Jewish,” Bozio said. “But within the Newton Police Department, we would go just a tiny bit further, and we just kind of dive a little bit further into analyzing what type of hate crime or incident is.”
NPD officials say the police have tried to cultivate a safer environment for Newton’s Jewish community, partnering with faith leaders, synagogues, and organizations around Newton.
“Our members of our police departments work closely with members of the Jewish community to find ways in which we could make the community feel safer,” Henrickson said.
Newton saw seven hate crimes in 2024, an increase from one in 2023. A hate crime is defined as a criminal action motivated by prejudice, whereas a hate incident is an action motivated by prejudice, though it may not involve criminal conduct.
Beginning last summer, NPD put more officers on foot patrol around city squares as part of an initiative called Operation Safe Sidewalk to foster a greater sense of safety.
“Seeing police officers on foot patrols helps alleviate levels of fear because they have that visible presence through their neighborhood,” said Henrickson. “We want to continue using feedback from the community to modify how we respond in the future so that we can hopefully deter and prevent future incidents.”
Although Newton saw a 9.18 percent decrease in mental health-related calls from 2023 to 2024, these calls have nearly doubled over the past decade, according to the report. In 2014, NPD received 230 of these calls, while in 2024, there were 456.
NPD has made efforts to adapt its approach to these situations, Henrickson said, requiring 40-hour specialized training for most of its officers and establishing departments for mental health crises.
“They co-respond on calls and follow up on incidents involving a person with a mental health crisis and also to people that may need help with substance abuse or recovery,” Henrickson said.
Bozio attributed the rise of mental health calls over the past decade to Newton’s growing population and heightened awareness of mental health issues.
“People are more aware of mental health in general, so I think they’re more inclined to call,” Bozio said.
Newton also saw an increase in car and bicycle crashes. These tended to occur in parking lots or intersections. According to the newsletter, officers have seen a pattern of accidents due to distracted driving.
“A lot of them have to do with just overall inattention, not just distraction with handheld devices,” Bozio said. “We try to do a lot of our direct patrols at trying to curtail a lot of the crashes of these locations.”
In response to these incidents, NPD has, with assistance from a grant through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, established a municipal road safety program for 2025.
“The police department will be participating in six traffic enforcement campaigns,” Henrickson said. “The first one, which is actually happening right now, is the winter impaired-driving campaign aimed at reducing drunk driving through this winter.”
NPD is currently working on a website for Newton residents to stay informed through access to crime statistics and reports, Bozio said.
“On there, they’ll be able to actually do certain crime mapping as well as look at some of the crime statistics,” Bozio said. “We hope to have it running in the next few months.”
In 2025, Henrickson said NPD hopes to reduce the number of crimes and traffic accidents through preventative measures and awareness campaigns, focusing on community outreach to build stronger relationships with Newton citizens.
“Our hope is that through proactive interactions with the community, and also with dedicating resources to the best locations, we’ll be able to see a reduction in the future,” said Henrickson.
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