THE CRIME RATE IN THE CITY OF BOSTON HAS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY. ALTHOUGH MANY PEOPLE FEAR TO GO OUT AT NIGHT, MOST AREAS OF THE CITY ARE IN FACT RELATIVELY FREE OF VIOLENCE OR PHYSICAL DANGER. THE SCOPE OF THE REPORT IS LIMITED TO ROBBERY, ASSAULT, BURGLARY, AND AUTO THEFT BECAUSE THEY INDUCE FEAR, POSE A SERIOUS THREAT TO THE SECURITY AND SAFETY OF CITIZENS, AND ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO ACTION BY THE POLICE. THE REPORT DATA RELIES ONLY ON THOSE CRIMES REPORTED TO THE POLICE -- ONLY A FRACTION OF CRIMES ACTUALLY COMMITTED. THE CRIME RATES USED ARE BASED ON THE RATIO OF THE NUMBER OF TIMES A GIVEN CRIME OCCURRED IN THAT AREA DURING A 1-YEAR PERIOD. OTHER DATA USED IN THE REPORT ARE TAKEN FROM THE UNIFORM CRIME REPORTS OF THE F.B.I. SOME OF THE FINDS RESULTING FROM A DETAILED EXAMINATION OF THE 81 NEIGHBORHOODS INCLUDE: (1) BOSTON'S CRIME RATES ARE GENERALLY LOWER THAN OTHER CITIES IN THE U.S.; (2) MOST OF THE VIOLENT CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS ARE CONCENTRATED IN A RELATIVELY SMALL NUMBER OF POLICE DISTRICTS AND NEIGHBORHOODS; (3) HALF OF THE 10 NEIGHBORHOODS WITH THE HIGHEST RATES OF ROBBERY AND ASSAULT ARE LOCATED IN ROXBURY-NORTH DORCHESTER; (4) STREET ROBBERIES HAVE INCREASED 200 PERCENT IN THE LAST 3 YEARS; (5) BURGLARIES ARE MORE EVENLY DISTRIBUTED THAN VIOLENT CRIMES, BUT ARE CONCENTRATED IN RELATIVELY FEW NEIGHBORHOODS; (6) RESIDENTIAL BURGLARIES INCREASED ON 100 PERCENT OVER THE LAST 4 YEARS AND 72 PERCENT OF THE BURGLARIES IN 1969 OCCURRED IN THE DAYTIME; (7) MORE THAN HALF OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS WITH THE HIGHEST RATES OF RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY ARE LOCATED IN ROXBURY-NORTH DORCHESTER; (8) MOST OF THE SERIOUS CRIME IS COMMITTED BY MALES UNDER 25; AND (9) BOSTON'S CLEARANCE RATE IS SLIGHTLY BETTER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE. TABLES ILLUSTRATE THE DATA THROUGHOUT THE REPORT.