1998 Annual Report
Malicious Destruction
Malicious destruction includes tire-slashing, window-smashing, spray-painting, and myriad other crimes in which someone's property is willfully and maliciously damaged or destroyed. It is the most commonly reported crime in Cambridge, accounting for just over 10 percent of the crime total. Despite these high numbers, we suspect that malicious destruction is one of the most underreported crimes; residents and businesses frequently ignore "minor" incidents of vandalism and graffiti.
| Neighborhood | 1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
Change 97–98 |
% of 98 Total |
| East Cambridge | 115 |
110 |
90 |
-18% |
11% |
| MIT | 17 |
16 |
10 |
-38% |
1% |
| Inman/Harrington | 80 |
75 |
48 |
-36% |
6% |
| Area 4 | 99 |
104 |
92 |
-12% |
12% |
| Cambridgeport | 109 |
108 |
92 |
-15% |
12% |
| Mid-Cambridge | 93 |
83 |
76 |
-8% |
10% |
| Riverside | 50 |
62 |
69 |
+11% |
9% |
| Agassiz | 19 |
34 |
22 |
-35% |
3% |
| Peabody | 68 |
57 |
72 |
+26% |
9% |
| West Cambridge | 67 |
68 |
74 |
+9% |
9% |
| North Cambridge | 82 |
108 |
94 |
-13% |
12% |
| Highlands | 13 |
25 |
34 |
+36% |
4% |
| Strawberry Hill | 18 |
23 |
14 |
-39% |
2% |
| Total | 830 |
873 |
789 |
-10% |
Malicious destruction usually falls into one of three categories: 1) juveniles looking for a thrill, including "taggers" or graffiti "artists"; 2) revenge-motivated incidents, including neighbor and landlord/tenant disputes and traffic and parking disputes; and 3) botched attempts at stealing something from a car (i.e., the window is smashed or the door lock is broken, but nothing is taken).
As 70% of all malicious destruction occurs to automobiles, this crime is likely to strike high-population residential areas and high-traffic commercial areas. Hence, the higher totals in Area 4, North Cambridge, East Cambridge, and Cambridgeport.
Of the categorizations listed here, graffiti is probably the most underreported; most graffiti is simply cleaned by residents or businesses without a formal police report. Graffiti, however, has long been designated a sign of neighborhood decay by criminologists, and the city has implemented an aggressive policy of cleaning up graffiti. The next page lists information on the city's graffiti reduction program.
| Neighborhood | 1998 |
% of Total |
| Car window or windshield smashed | 190 |
24% |
| Attempted theft from MV (door lock popped or other damage to enter) | 122 |
15% |
| Dents/other damage to car | 112 |
14% |
| Tires slashed or punctured | 68 |
9% |
| Scratches, "pinstripes" | 62 |
8% |
| Total Damage to Automobiles | 554 |
70% |
| Misc. damage at residences | 54 |
7% |
| Window of residence smashed | 33 |
4% |
| Total Damage to Residences | 87 |
11% |
| Window of business smashed | 53 |
7% |
| Misc. damage to businesses | 34 |
4% |
| Total Damage to Businesses | 87 |
11% |
| Graffiti | 57 |
7% |
Among patterns of malicious destruction identified by the Crime Analysis Unit in 1998:
A late night (10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.) series of graffiti incidents at Technology Square area businesses during the summer.
A score of tire slashings over one night in Cambridgeport in mid-July. A neighborhood teenager was arrested.
A December spree of car window smashing on Rindge Avenue in North Cambridge that hit half a dozen cars one night.
Again, cars are the most common targets, and police strategies aimed at reducing other motor vehicle crimes should have a heavy impact on malicious destruction.