BOSTON (AP) – Boston police are taking longer to get to emergencies than they did five years ago, a published report said Sunday.
The Boston Sunday Herald reported that the time between the first call for help and the arrival of a police officer on the scene averaged six or seven minutes in 1998. But in 2002, five of Boston’s 12 districts averaged eight minutes and four districts averaged nine minutes.
Police attributed the slower response to construction, weather, decreased staffing and imprecise reporting and recording of data.
“I’m not going to tell you one minute is not important – certainly it’s important,” Deputy Superintendent Patrick J. Crossen told the newspaper.
James Fox, a professor of criminal justice at Northeastern University, said one- and two-minute delays were “huge.”
“A minute can make a difference between a life being saved, an offender being apprehended and a crime being interrupted,” he said.
The head of the city’s largest police union, which is in a contract stalemate with the mayor, was concerned.
“A minute could be the difference between life and death – we hope it doesn’t take a serious incident to get the department refocused,” said Tom Nee of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association.
Nee said the slower response times corresponded with a declining number of uniformed officers.
But Crossen said the department steadfastly maintained minimum staffing levels for each district.
AP-ES-06-22-03 1104EDT
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