Chief McMainz of the Newton Police Department presented department statistics and trends to the Public Safety and Transportation Committee on Jan. 22, highlighting increases in residential burglaries, car breaks and hate incidents.

Why it matters: Changes in crime patterns, crash rates and the volume of mental‑health calls influence patrol and outreach priorities, resource allocation and public safety planning across Newton.

Key statistics cited by the chief: Residential burglaries rose about 117% (from 18 in 2023 to 39 in 2024); car break‑ins increased about 63% in 2024 (the chief said roughly 71% of car break‑ins involved unlocked vehicles and 72% occurred overnight or in early morning hours). The department recorded 67 hate incidents in 2024 (up from 49) and said recorded hate crimes rose from one in 2023 to seven in 2024.

“We had 10,000s of directed patrols every year,” the chief said, noting that police target patrols based on patterns and resident requests; the department also assigns directed patrols after residents raise concerns. He described most residential burglaries as “crimes of opportunity,” typically involving unlocked doors, broken‑window entries or cut screens, and said offenders often avoid homes with visible cameras or motion lights.

Crash data: The department reported an overall 6% increase in car crashes in 2024, a 30% decline in pedestrian crashes and a 27% increase in bicycle crashes (from 22 in 2023 to 28 in 2024). The chief identified recurring crash locations around Central/Washington Street and a spike at Franklin and Waverly. He said many collisions happen in intersections and parking lots; Newton‑Wellesley Hospital parking lots were frequently mentioned as sites of parking‑lot collisions.

Mental‑health calls and response: The department said mental‑health related calls have roughly doubled since 2014, rising from 230 calls in 2014 to 456 in 2024. The police department has a single co‑response clinician embedded with the Problem Oriented Policing (POP) unit and Sergeant Melanie Rooney; the chief said the clinician and POP unit handle many follow‑ups, and officers receive mental‑health response training. The chief acknowledged the workload and said more social‑work capacity could be beneficial but staffing and scheduling present challenges.

Data transparency and tools: The department has contracted a LexisNexis product to produce maps and hot‑spot visualizations for crashes, burglaries and other calls for service. The chief said the department is working with vendors to publish a public‑facing portal but could not confirm how near‑real‑time the public view will be.

Other discussion items: Councilors raised questions about block‑party closures for Halloween and how those street closures are approved, with the chief noting primary concerns involve emergency vehicle access, neighborhood notifications and impacts on medics and fire response routes. Committee members also asked how the department decides which streets to close and requested follow‑up information.

Action: Councilor Lipoff moved to hold the item for future discussion so the committee could revisit police data and related topics this term. The committee approved the motion; the transcript records the motion, the chair calling for ayes, and the item held for a future meeting.

Ending: Committee members thanked the chief for the briefing and encouraged continued coordination on data sharing, mental‑health response and traffic enforcement.