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Boynton Beach police report drops in violent and property crime for 2024
Summary
Police Chief De Giulio told the City Commission that verified 2024 crime statistics show a 14% reduction in violent crime and a 5% reduction in property crime, with above‑average clearance rates in several categories and an increase in recorded field interview reports after a new records system went live.
Police Chief Daniel de Giulio told the Boynton Beach City Commission on April 1 that the department’s verified 2024 reporting shows declining violent and property crime and improved clearance rates in several major categories.
“We had a reduction of 14% of violent crime,” Chief de Giulio said, adding that homicide clearance rates were high for a second consecutive year and that the department’s overall property‑crime clearance rate stood at about 19% compared with the national average of about 13.9%.
The department highlighted several specifics: a roughly 5% reduction in property crime year‑over‑year, a retail‑theft clearance rate near 35% credited to proactive enforcement, and a 112% increase in field interview reports after switching to a new RMS/CAD system (Mark43). De Giulio said that when officers are more visible and make proactive arrests, reported crime counts sometimes rise temporarily because of increased reporting and enforcement activity, but that the department’s clearance performance and arrest totals showed net improvement. He said arrests increased overall from 2023 to 2024 and that the department had about 800 more arrests in the prior comparison period; for 2024 specifically he described a modest increase in total arrests.
The chief and commissioners also described new or ongoing community policing steps as part of the department’s strategy. De Giulio cited outreach programs including “coffee with a cop,” the desk‑officer online reporting program to keep officers available for higher‑priority calls, a community response team, and partnerships with retail loss prevention and victim‑advocacy groups. He said the pay‑off is in measurable clearance rates and reduced calls for service for low‑priority incidents now handled online.
Commissioners praised the department’s staffing and recruitment progress. Mayor Shelley Shelton and Commissioner Adam Turkin credited investments in staffing and technology for improving public safety outcomes. Vice Mayor Tyrese Hay asked about camera‑registry programs and video sharing; De Giulio said the department has migrated to a platform that supports camera registration and integration with its real‑time crime center, and that residents can register cameras or provide access permissions to assist investigations.
Ending: The commission asked staff to continue outreach and to return with any needed budget or programmatic requests tied to sustaining the policing initiatives that department leaders said underpinned the 2024 results.
