Updated automatically as new Boston police, fire and crime stories post
Emergency? Call 911. For non-emergency city problems, call 311 or use the BOS:311 app.
This is The Boston Report’s hub for Boston crime news and Boston public safety coverage: Boston Police Department investigations and policy, Boston Fire Department incidents, transit safety on the MBTA, and the City Council and court decisions that shape how the city is policed. Stories below refresh on their own as reporters file them, and the official links further down go straight to the agencies that publish the primary records.
Latest Boston crime and public safety news
- 14-Year-Old Arrested With Loaded Ghost Gun at Snowden International High School
- The Great Boston Fire of 1872: How It Started, Spread and Changed the City
- Lowell Flock Cameras Back With Limits; Public Demo Proposed
- Burlington Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Warning Signs and Where to Get Help
- Flynn Seeks State Probe of Boston Police Crime Lab After Hearing No-Show
- Four-Alarm Malden Fire on Porter Street Displaces 15, Injures Firefighter
- Quincy Police Switch Off 50 Flock Cameras, Move to City-Owned Plate Reader System
- Boston Crime Rate 2026: Homicides, Shootings and Thefts by District
- Jamaica Plain Scaffolding Death Probed After Worker Fall
- River Street Bridge Chunk Falls Into Charles After Crash
- MBTA Bus Stabbing Case Sparks Dual-Charge Debate in Boston
- Charlestown Explosive Device Blast Injures Man in BPD Standoff
Boston police news
Our Boston police news coverage follows the Boston Police Department (BPD), the city’s largest public safety agency, along with the MBTA Transit Police and neighboring departments in Greater Boston. That includes oversight fights at City Hall, such as the request for an investigation into the BPD crime lab and the City Council’s push for tighter police surveillance rules, incidents such as the Charlestown explosive device standoff and the MBTA bus stabbing case in Roxbury, as well as license plate reader and camera policy in nearby cities like Quincy and Lowell.
The department posts its own press releases, wanted notices and community alerts on BPD News, and incident-level crime reports are published as open data by the city. When we report an arrest or a charge, we attribute it to the agency or court record it came from, and an arrest is not a conviction.
Boston fire news
Boston fire news on this page covers multi-alarm fires, building collapses, hazardous materials calls and fire prevention rules from the Boston Fire Department, plus major fires in surrounding communities, like the Porter Street triple-decker fire in Malden. For the longer view, read our history of the Great Boston Fire of 1872, which reshaped downtown and the city’s fire code.
The Boston Fire Department’s operations division handles firefighting and rescue, while its Fire Prevention division handles inspections, permits and code enforcement. Boston EMS, a separate city agency, runs ambulance service.
Is Boston safe? Crime data and trends
For a data-driven look at crime trends, read our explainer on the Boston crime rate in 2026, which walks through what the city’s own reported-incident numbers show and what they do not. The city’s crime incident reports dataset on Analyze Boston is the primary record we use. It is updated regularly and lists reported incidents by offense type, district and date. Reported incidents are not the same as convictions, and categories can change, so we compare like with like and name the time period.
Official Boston public safety resources
- BPD NewsBoston Police press releases, alerts and wanted notices
- Boston Police DepartmentDistricts, reports, records requests and contacts
- Boston Fire DepartmentFire operations, prevention and safety tips
- Boston EMSThe city’s ambulance and emergency medical service
- Office of Emergency ManagementAlertBoston sign-up, storms and evacuation info
- Boston 311Report non-emergency problems to the city
- Crime incident reportsCity open data on reported incidents since 2015
How we cover crime and public safety
We name the source for every claim, link to official records where they exist, avoid naming people who have not been charged, and update stories when charges are dropped or cases are resolved. Corrections are handled under our corrections policy. For more city coverage, go to the Boston news hub or the City Hall decisions tracker.
Related hubs: Boston traffic today and Boston school news.