Editing Boynton Beach, Florida (section)

== Crime ==

The year 2006 saw an increase in gang-related violent crime. This mirrored a similar increase across Palm Beach County. A gang-related shooting that resulted in a death at the city's popular [[Boynton Beach Mall]] on [[Christmas Eve]] of 2006 caught the national attention on many news networks, such as CBS.<ref name="shooting">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shooting-at-fla-mall-leaves-one-dead/|title=Shooting At Fla. Mall Leaves One Dead|date=25 December 2006|access-date=2007-08-15|work=[[CBS News]]}}</ref> There were ten known operating gangs in the city as of 2007, according to police, including the notorious South Florida [[Haitians|Haitian]] [[Zoe Pound]] gang.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palmbeachpost.com:80/localnews/content/news/interactives/gangmap.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070521071950/http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/news/interactives/gangmap.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-05-21|title=Gangs in Palm Beach County|date=2007-05-21|access-date=2017-08-17}}</ref> As of 2009, countywide gang violence had fallen three percent.<ref name="organized crime drops">{{cite news|url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpgangs0215pnfeb15,0,108346.story|title=Gang violence falls in Palm Beach County as law enforcement focuses on prevention|date=15 February 2009|access-date=2009-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218055321/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpgangs0215pnfeb15%2C0%2C108346.story|archive-date=18 February 2009|url-status=dead|newspaper=[[South Florida Sun-Sentinel]]}}</ref>

On January 27, 2012, Mayor Jose Rodriguez was suspended from office by the state governor for trying to influence a police investigation into his personal affairs.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/boynton-city-attorney-suggests-timetable-for-mayor/nL3fj/|title=Boynton city attorney suggests timetable for mayor's temporary replacement|last=Kleinberg|first=Eliot|date=30 January 2012|newspaper=[[The Palm Beach Post]]|access-date=February 8, 2013}}</ref>

The crime rate started decreasing in 2017 and attained its lowest number in 20 years in 2020.<ref name="bbpd.org">{{cite web|date=2021-06-24|title=Crime rate drops again in Boynton Beach|url=https://bbpd.org/crime-rate-2020/|access-date=2021-07-09|website=BBPD|language=en-US}}</ref>  According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's 2020 Annual Crime Report, the total crime rate decreased by 28 percent in the city compared to 2019 and 64 percent compared to 2001. Violent crime, which includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, decreased 8.5 percent. Property crime, which includes burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft, dropped by 32.2 percent. Florida's total crime volume dropped 14.1 percent compared to 2019.<ref>{{cite web|title=UCR|url=http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/FSAC/CJAB-Home/Uniform-Crime-Report|access-date=2021-07-09|website=www.fdle.state.fl.us}}</ref>

Boynton Beach Police Chief Michael G. Gregory attributed the decrease to focused efforts, an all-hands-on-deck approach and "using a multitude of tactics and crime fighting strategies that are constantly evolving based on crime patterns".<ref name="bbpd.org"/>