The Hiller Instinct: The Boston Crime Quiz

Andy Hiller, 7 News
"You think you know the city pretty well?"

Mayor Tom Menino, (D) Boston
"I have a good knowledge of it... Yes."

Good enough to make him willing to take our Boston crime quiz?

Mayor Tom Menino
"I'm game whenever you are."

Let's begin with car break-ins, which police say are the number one crime concern in Boston neighborhoods. Where does the Mayor think there's more auto larceny than anywhere else?

Mayor Tom Menino
"Downtown."

Andy Hiller
"What area comes into your mind?"

Mayor Tom Menino
"Probably Kenmore Square."

Kenmore square is close, so give the mayor a club. But police statistics on the most auto break-ins say one Ipswich Street is number-one. Ipswich is a dark forbidding street off Mass Ave that curls behind Fenway Park. 25 cars were broken into here in 1999, about one every two weeks.

Now, what about the most stolen cars?

Mayor Tom Menino
"Umm, that's a tough one. North End?"

No, Mayor, it's not the North End. The most cars were stolen at 8 Allstate Road in Dorchester. One car a month was stolen last year from the South Bay shopping mall parking lot (just off the Southeast Expressway.)

Mayor Tom Menino
"I'm very surprised at that."

Next we asked the mayor where he thinks there's the most shoplifting.

Mayor Tom Menino
"Hmmm, I have no idea."

Police data shows the most shoplifting was at 426 Washington Street in Downtown Crossing. In all, there were 161 shoplifting incidents here last year, more than eight percent of the city's total at the address that's home to Filene's Boston store, Filene's Basement, and a posse of push carts just outside.

Mayor Tom Menino
"I was going to say that. That was most obvious to me."

Andy Hiller
"Why didn't you?"

Mayor Tom Menino
"Because every one I thought were obvious answers proved to be wrong."

Andy Hiller
"So you're like the smart kid who thought yourself out of the right answer?"

Mayor Tom Menino
"That's right."

And what about your wallets and purses? Where are more of them stolen?

Mayor Tom Menino
"At a sporting event."

Andy Hiller
"So you would say Fenway Park, or the Fleet Center?"

Mayor Tom Menino
"Yeah, either one."

Andy Hiller
"Sorry."

The address for the most pick pocketing and purse snatching is 800 Boylston Street, which you know as the Pru Center. 71 pockets were picked and purses snatched here last year, more than at any other single city location. And the Pru is tough on bikes, too, with police reports putting the Pru at the top of the bicycle theft list.

Mayor Tom Menino
"I was very surprised by the Pru Center."

You can be a victim of crime anywhere, any time. But it does happen more times at just a few places, and now you - and the mayor - know exactly where some of them are in Boston.