By William Hinkle
BEACON HILL -- During the 1630s, the Boston Common was used as a cow pasture. Today, another farm animal - horses - grazes near the Boston Common, up and down Charles Street. The horses aren't mere farm animals though; ridden by police officers, they are members of the Boston Police Department.
Many of the crimes committed in district A-1, which includes Downtown, Beacon Hill, Chinatown and Charlestown, stem from drug dealing around the Boston Common, making drug arrests a priority for police, said Sgt. Tom Lema of the Boston Police Department.
In 2007, the crime rate in District A-1 fell 9.2 percent from 2006, according to police. In Beacon Hill, crime dropped 22.8 percent, police said.
Paula O'Keeffe, chairwoman of the Beacon Hill Civic Association's safety committee, attributes the drop in crime to more police presence and increased awareness of how to prevent crime by the members of the community. Police have deployed more officers on horseback on Charles Street, cutting crime around the Common, O'Keeffe said.
"We have put up signs warning people not to leave anything in their cars," O'Keeffe said. "We have also put ads in the newspapers and have encouraged our store owners to be more aware."
A reduction in crimes such as larceny, robbery and assault reflects the decrease in the overall crime rate on Beacon Hill. The burglary rate, however, is increasing.
"On Beacon Hill, we probably have seven or eight burglaries a month," O'Keeffe said. "It just proves we can never have too many police here."
Burglaries tend to occur when students move to Beacon Hill in the fall, O'Keeffe said. They often leave their doors unlocked or unknowingly buzz criminals into their buildings, making burglary harder to prevent.
"Beacon Hill is not a violent area and crime is not very high to begin with," O'Keeffe said. "We don't expect to have a lot of crime here."