Boston City Council calls for 'immediate' public safety briefing from Mayor Wu after July 4 violence

Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald on Jul 8, 2026

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The Boston City Council passed a resolution calling for a “public safety summit” and review of the mayor’s summer safety plan in light of the July 4th gun violence that rocked the city, killing two people and injuring 11 others.

The Council approved the resolution, 11-0, on Wednesday, and later referred a related hearing order to committee for further discussion.

“Over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, multiple shootings occurred across the city of Boston, resulting in 13 individuals being shot and two people being killed, while officers also faced dangerous conditions, including fireworks being thrown and shot at them during public safety responses,” Councilor Erin Murphy, the resolution’s lead sponsor, said.

“These incidents are not isolated, but part of a larger and deeply concerning pattern that demands a clear, coordinated, and accountable response from city leadership,” Murphy added. “The people of Boston want us to work together to keep every neighborhood safe, and they want to see that we’re committed to taking proactive steps to prevent violence before tragedy strikes.”

Murphy and co-sponsor Councilor Ed Flynn’s resolution calls for a citywide public safety summit to evaluate current strategies, identify opportunities for improvement, and develop additional recommendations to reduce violent crime, support first responders, and improve public safety in all Boston neighborhoods.

It also calls for the Council to be briefed on the city’s summer safety plan by Mayor Michelle Wu, Police Commissioner Michael Cox, and other relevant public safety officials, which the resolution says should be “immediate.”

Murphy and Flynn, who have been calling for increased police staffing levels to counteract violence, state in their resolution that the Council briefing on the city’s safety plan should include information on police deployment, staffing levels, violence prevention, and intervention efforts, among other priorities.

“It’s clear we need a new comprehensive public safety plan,” Flynn said. “Staffing levels are dangerously low. Shifts are not filled, impacting public safety in every neighborhood. We have also witnessed frequent assaults against police officers.

“We know police officers are frequently working 16 hours a day, mandatory overtime. We also know morale is low in the Boston Police Department. Police officers know they’re not supported or appreciated here at City Hall,” Flynn said.

He added that the city needs to “respect our police officers,” and recognize that because, “we’re not providing the level of police officers that are needed across the city of Boston, public safety is negatively impacted.”

The Council also referred a similar late-file hearing order that was sponsored by Councilors Miniard Culpepper, Brian Worrell and Henry Santana and called for the city to consider a community-based summer safety plan to the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee for further discussion.

Earlier this week, Culpepper and Worrell, who both represent parts of Roxbury, the neighborhood where last weekend’s holiday gun violence largely took place, convened a press conference with faith leaders to call for more community policing and violence prevention.

“The recent acts of violence across our city, most of which occurred in my district, are heartbreaking. Every resident deserves to feel safe in their neighborhood, and we cannot and will not normalize what has happened,” Culpepper said. “It’s heartbreaking to see violence resurface in communities that have fought hard to move forward.”

Culpepper said community leaders and organizations that have spent years cultivating trust in Boston neighborhoods that experience a “disproportionate share of gun violence” should have a “seat at the table from the very beginning,” rather than have their input on the city’s safety plan be viewed as an afterthought.

“Now is the time to come together as one city,” Culpepper said, “to incorporate community organizations’ expertise into the city’s summer safety strategy.”

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