There's good news and bad news in Worcester crime stats. Here's what to know

WORCESTER — In 2023, Worcester saw homicides cut in half from the previous year and most categories of property crime largely decreased.

However, several types of violent crimes, including crimes involving guns, have increased.

When the City Council returns Tuesday, it will be reviewing last year's crime statistics, two weeks after a double homicide shocked the city.

According to police, Dejan D. Belnavis, 27, and Karel Mangual, 28, opened fire on an SUV parked on Englewood Avenue around 3 p.m. March 5, killing 27-year-old Chasity Nuñez and her daughter, Zella, March 5.

So far this year there have been four homicides in Worcester, including Chasity and Zella. On Feb. 12, a 17-year-old male was shot on Shannon Street. On Feb. 14, a woman was stabbed to death in her Douglas Street apartment.

Belnavis was arrested March 11 in San Diego following a traffic stop. Mangual was arrested March 6 in Worcester.

While the tragedy still looms over Worcester, City Manager Eric D. Batista wrote that the city remains safe compared to others of similar size.

"While we have experienced tragedy in recent weeks, violence remains a rare occurrence in the City of Worcester," Batista wrote.

Annual crime statistics are published each spring. In 2022, crime went down in most categories, with homicides being the big exception.

Police attributed that rise in part to the special circumstances of the deadly Gage Street fire in May of last year. Four people died in that fire, and a former resident of the building at 2 Gage St. accused of starting the fire is charged with four counts of second-degree murder.

According to Interim Police Chief Paul B. Saucier, reported homicides went from 12 in 2022 to six in 2023.

While reported stabbings dropped in 2023 to a multi-year low of 77, nonfatal shooting rose. There were 34 non-fatal shootings in 2023 with 39 victims, compared with 25 nonfatal shootings with 34 victims in 2022.

Reported gunshots rose in 2023 and are 26% above the five-year average, with 736 last year compared with 655 in 2022. Reported robberies increased from 173 in 2022 to 225 in 2022, still below the five-year average.

Reported property crime categories such as breaking and entering, vandalism and larceny from a motor vehicle all dropped considerably.

There were 585 breaking and entering incidents last year, compared to 644 in 2022; house break-ins have dropped by 38% over the past five years; vandalism incidents dropped from 1,351 in 2022 to 1,253 in 2023; and larceny from a motor vehicle dropped from 1,004 in 2022 to 885 in 2023.

However, motor vehicle theft rose from 421 in 2022 to 507 in 2023, above the five-year average.

In other categories, traffic accidents rose from 7,896 in 2022 to 7,981 in 2023. Crashes were 3% below the five-year average. Noise disturbance reports were flat in 2023, at 4,606 compared to 4,609 the year before.

Saucier also described several strategies Worcester police are using to address violence.

The chief pointed to the community policing model, the use of technology such as ShotSpotter and ResourceRouter, working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to address gun violence, and the prevalence of handgun conversion devices and at-risk youth programs.

Public safety items at City Council

Other public safety-related topics will also be on deck for City Council.

Batista submitted a petition to exempt the position of chief of police and deputy police chief from the Massachusetts Civil Service exam.

In his communication, Batista wrote that the current system only allows promotions through a pipeline of candidates who passed the exam, thus limiting the pool of candidates.

While Worcester would not fully move away from civil service through this petition, Batista notes that at least 36 police departments and eight fire departments have moved away from civil service.

An over-100 page racial equity audit of the police, conducted by independent research organization CNA, was also submitted to the City Council.

In February, a spokesperson for Batista said the city manager would soon brief City Council on the status of a search for a full-time chief, noting a national search would be hampered by the civil service exam.

Councilor-at-Large Khrystian King submitted an order requesting that Batista provide language that would remove the civil service requirement for the position in order to "consider the expansion of the applicant pool" for police chief. The City Council sent the order to Batista in October.

Batista also provided a review of the Police Department's off-duty detail and overtime assignments. The report came after Colby Turner, a Worcester police officer, was arrested on five felony charges of larceny over $1,200 and a misdemeanor charge of submitting false claims for reimbursement.

Turner is accused of requesting and receiving reimbursement for off-duty assignments that he did not actually work.

Batista wrote that while the independent review found the Turner case showed that the off-duty system the department had in 2022 was susceptible to fraud and needed improvement, no other criminal activity was found.

Illegal gun resolution comes back

Councilor-at-Large Kathleen Toomey's nonbinding resolution on illegal gun laws returns for consideration after King used his privilege as a City Councilor to delay a vote on it.

Toomey is requesting that the City Council and the city "call upon the State Legislature to fully enforce and enact any additional required legislation to ensure full sentencing be mandatory for the illegal possession of firearms."

Following the March 12 City Council meeting, Toomey shared her speech introducing the resolution on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"You can write all the gun laws you want, but when the ones on the books regarding mandatory sentencing for illegal gun possession aren’t being enforced to their fullest intent, especially for repeat offenders and when the court system lets dangerous felons with a history of gun violence out early on parole, we will continue to have tragedies because there are very few consequences," Toomey wrote.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 2023 Worcester crime stats: Homicides down, nonfatal shootings up