New safety measures rolling out after recent violence in Downtown Boston: "This is not the Wild West"

Boston community and city leaders say new safety measures are rolling out this week, after recent alarming violence in Downtown Boston around Boston Common and Downtown Crossing.

Wednesday night, about 75 agencies from police to community groups, the mayor's office and district attorney's office came together for the One Downtown Task Force's public safety working session.

The law enforcement and community partners looked at hotspots block by block and say changes begin this week, such as ramping up coordinated Boston Police, Transit Police, university police and private security operations.

In the past month alone, the area around Tremont Street has seen five shootings, a 35-year-old man, Jonathan Sanon, was beaten to death, and last Friday, a broad daylight stabbing sent a man to the hospital.

"It's hard. I'm a dad of two young kids and my wife and I love Boston, we love being in downtown. And so, it's not easy when you see a homicide and red tape on the way to camp," said Rishi Shukla, co-founder of the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association.

Councilor Ed Flynn says downtown needs more police patrols, despite the city's police staffing shortage.

Other ideas include working closely with homeless shelter providers and the court system.

"This is not the Wild West where you can do whatever you want," said Councilor Flynn. "You have to have a zero-tolerance policy for criminal activity. That includes drug dealing, drug use, any type of violence and then holding people accountable in the criminal justice system, not just releasing people."

"We're going to continue to meet, work on a daily basis," said Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Sean Martin. "So we're excited to see what we can do and make progress."

Another public safety meeting is planned for January.