Dramatic changes are taking place in how the Boston Police Department investigates crimes. Police personnel are now using the latest scientific investigative tools and techniques available to identify suspects, process crime scenes, collect and examine evidence, and prosecute criminals.

The Boston Police Crime Laboratory Unit is the source of many of these innovations. it provides the Department with a secure evidence collection, preparation, and storage facility, additional forensic testing and scientific evidence evaluation capabilities, and expert witness testimony in 411 court proceedings. Established forty years ago at 154 Berkeley Street, the Crime Lab recently moved into a new $2.7 million facility at Boston Police Headquarters that is outfitted with an exciting array of specialized equipment which includes the state's only public forensic DNA laboratory-one of only 18 in the nation.

This new facility was designed to meet the highest standards of excellence in forensic science, and comes equipped with dedicated laboratory space for serology (analysis of bodily fluids), DNA analysis, trace evidence examination, and the chemical and physical processing of evidence. A unique evidence examination room-created specifically to accommodate a broad range of forensic evidence analysis needs-contains a custom walk-in biological safety hood, and tools such as alternative light sources to aid in identifying, presenting, cataloging and photographing physical evidence. Nearby freezers can preserve biological evidence for decades, and the laboratory is also equipped with the latest in computer evidence submission and tracking systems, and is connected to forensic laboratories throughout the nation and around the world.

As the first and only public lab of its kind in Massachusetts, the Department's DNA Laboratory enables its highly-trained staff to analyze biological evidence collected at crime scenes to determine whether they could have come from a suspect, or, equally important, to state definitively that they could not have come from a particular suspect. DNA testing typically compares an evidence sample with a reference sample obtained from a suspect. These testing methods are so accurate that if they produce consistent DNA results, the likelihood of the evidence sample originating from someone other than the particular suspect in question would be greater than one in a billion.

In addition to helping to solve recent cases, this technology is also used to solve older "cold case" homicides using evidence which could not be analyzed when the crime initially occurred, but can now be analyzed using the Department's new scientific equipment and techniques.

The Bureau of Administrative Services' Facilities Management Division was responsible for coordinating the planning, management, and all of the logistics involved in moving into the new Police Headquarters facility at One Schroeder Plaza. Completed in the fall of 1997, the planning for this $70 million facility had begun in the 1980's. It replaces the Department's former 154 Berkeley Street Headquarters building, which was built in 1926, and has allowed the Department to update and centralize several administrative and investigative functions. This move has also acted as an important catalyst in bringing innovative new communications and crime- fighting technologies to the organization as a whole.

Situated on 3.5 acres of land adjacent to the Southwest Corridor Park, the new headquarters is a modern, four-story, glass and granite facility located close to the geographic center of Boston, in the crosstown area of Roxbury at the corner of Ruggles and Tremont Streets. The North and South buildings are joined together above the main entrance by a central pedestrian bridge and light shaft. The three stories rise 60 feet in height, not including the adjacent tower which ascends to 147 feet.

Once the building was completed, the next task was to move hundreds of employees into it from all over the City. This had to be accomplished without causing major disruptions to their work or disturbing the neighborhoods surrounding these facilities during the transition. Though still not entirely complete until the arrival of the Operations Division in 1998, this smooth transition into the new facility is already providing active demonstrations of the Police Department's commitment to neighborhood policing.

For example, throughout the lifecycle of the project a Community Review Panel has represented the neighborhood organizations and institutions that participated in the programming and design review process by holding regular meetings, conducting site visits, and participating in working sessions. The new Head quarters is also part of the City's Plans for further revitilization and economic development within the Crosstown area, which is already accelerating throughout the neighborhood.

Same Cop Same Neighborhood (SC/SN) is one of the cornerstones of Commissioner Evans' commitment to the effective delivery of public safety services to every neighborhood in Boston. Under SC/SN, the same beat officers are assigned to a neighborhood beat, and will spend no less than 60% of their shift in that designated beat. The intent of SC/SN is to encourage officers to do more street level problem- solving. Using principles of shared accountability and ownership for what happens in their designated areas is already helping officers to promote increased coordination among units within the Department as well as with the community as a whole.

Although this basic concept sounds straightforward, implementing SC/SN has required fundamental changes in the way the Boston Police Department operates internally and delivers public safety services to citizens throughout Boston. It has also required basic changes in attitude from the cop on the beat to the highest command levels. Work processes and reporting procedures have been redesigned, and new uses are being created for technology. These changes have also created a mandate for important shifts in the assignment and deployment of personnel.

Several important techniques have been identified as particularly effective in promoting its success thus far, including:

• reconfiguring boundaries for police districts and sectors
• training and education sessions with supervisory personnel
• identification of potential road blocks and suggestions on how to avoid them by middle managers
• An ongoing dialogue about implementation issues, with assistance from the Boston Management Consortium.

As a result of this new management approach, beat officers are developing their own individual partner- ships with members of their neighborhoods through attendance at community meetings and participation in a growing variety of neighborhood activities and events. This new approach has already won the 1997 Boston City Excellence - Managing for Safer Neighborhoods Award, and has been a useful tool in helping to bring the City of Boston to its lowest level of overall crime in 29 years. Perhaps most importantly, it is also helping officers to gain a greater familiarity with the areas they work in, and is giving them a renewed sense of ownership and participation in the positive outcomes they help to generate for the citizens they serve.

National Night Out is a proven, inexpensive and enjoyable program. In 2007, National Night Out was celebrated in 11,000 communities with more than 35 million people including citizens, law enforcement agencies, civic and neighborhood groups, businesses and local officials.

Organized by the Neighborhood Crime Watch Unit of the Boston Police Department, Boston's National Night Out celebrates the vibrancy and diversity of over 600 active Neighborhood Crime Watches working year round build safe neighborhoods where we live, work and play.

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