slides: Which City is the Murder Capital of New England?

Friday, September 04, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Even following a violent summer of shootings, Worcester remains way behind other New England cities in number of homicides so far this year.

SEE SLIDES BELOW: Which City is the Murder Capital of New England?

In fact, among the nine most populated cities in New England, Worcester ranks seventh with five total homicides - between 20% to 50% less than every other city in the top six recorded.

Additionally, Worcester has the third lowest number of homicides among major New England cities in 2015 per capita (.027 per 1,000) behind only Stamford and Waterbury, CT.

Four of the city's five homicides this year were a result of gun violence.

“It is very unfortunate that the trends in gun violence that occurred in 2014 have continued in 2015,” said Police Chief Gary Gemme in a released statement this summer.

Homicides and Shootings Majority of Public Attention

At the forefront of media and the public's attention is the city's growing number of shootings following a tumultuous summer.

As the number of shootings in the city nears 30, and the number of homicides approaches last year's total of seven, should Worcester residents stop and look at the violence in other major cities?

“While any murder is one too many, it is certainly reassuring to know that Worcester has such a significantly lower homicide rate compared to other smaller cities in New England,” said Senator Michael O. Moore (D-Millbury). “Given that the rate is almost half of what it was just two years ago, the data certainly suggests that the Worcester Police Department and other law enforcement partners are making strides in addressing crime in the City. However, I think we can all agree that this information should not detract from efforts toward bringing the rate to zero.”

Jennithan Cortes, candidate for District 2 City Council, told GoLocal, "If you don't know Worcester and you're looking at it as an outsider, one may look at those statistics and say 'That's a good number' or even an acceptable number. But if you know Worcester, you know that number is not acceptable to have. To compare Worcester to those other cities, it's an apples to oranges comparison."

City Councilor Michael Gaffney said, "The gangs are shooting at each other. The fact that they have been relatively unsuccessful in murdering each other is a fortunate happenstance and not a cause for celebration. Their inability to hit a target, combined with their brazen disregard for law and life, posses a danger to the innocent bystanders that their bullets might strike, to include infant children."

"We need to stay focus on working to provide better safety, and work with the community members. There's a higher level of crime activity as a whole - even if it doesn't result in homicides. That's an important factor to take into consideration," Cortes added.

Gaffney said, "It is an indisputable fact that every statistic shows violent crime has been on the rise for last two years here in Worcester. We must focus on solving the problem of increased violent crime and shootings before the gangs improve their aim or hit an innocent person."

Gun Violence Among Young Men of Color

All five of the city’s homicide victims this year were young men of color - including 18-year-old Samuel Castro, 22-year-old David Luyando, and 24-year-old Shane Bennett, all of Worcester.

Following Castro's death, Chief Gemme said “An all too familiar pattern continues with roughly 90 percent of the gunshot victims being young men of color and where teenagers now represent six of the twelve gunshot victims. We have seen a continuing increase in the availability of illegal guns and more of a willingness to use them by a small group of violent offenders. The death of Samuel Castro represents another senseless shooting in the city and the tragic death of a teenager."

According to a source with the WPD, all of the city's shootings and four of the homicides are gang-related.