Boston’s police commissioner boasted that the “city has never been safer” Friday when joining the mayor in rolling out end-of-year crime statistics that feature a record-low number of homicides and shootings.

There were 24 homicides in Boston this year, representing a 33% decline from the 37 that occurred in 2023. Commissioner Michael Cox said the number of murders “appears to be the lowest since 1957,” and is “by far” the lowest amount since the Police Department began tracking such data in 2007.

In 2007, for example, there were 68 homicides, according to city data.

“In my entire time that I’ve been a police officer, going back since when I came on, the city has never been safer, period, when it comes to crime, particularly violent crime, and it could go back to before I was born in the city,” Cox said at a Friday press conference at BPD headquarters.

Cox, a Boston native, joined the department in 1989, left in 2019, and rejoined BPD as commissioner in the summer of 2022.

Mayor Michelle Wu, who is gearing up for her reelection campaign after the birth of her third child next month, also pointed to the data as supporting her claims that Boston is the “safest major city in the country.”

The Hub is a “national leader” when it comes to safety, Wu said.

“It’s not about numbers,” Wu said. “It is that safety is the foundation for everything we do in making Boston a home for everyone.”

The numbers show a 14% decrease in shootings this year. The 307 “gunfire incidents,” represent the lowest number since 2011, “when we began reliably tracking those statistics,” Cox said.

Cox also highlighted a 9% decrease in shooting victims, or 130 compared to last year’s 143. It’s the fourth consecutive year of declines in shooting victims. There have been fewer than 200 shooting victims since 2021, he said.

Wu said there’s been a multi-facted approach to curbing gun violence in Boston. She pointed, in particular, to a weeklong workshop that was held in April 2023 and concluded such violence was occurring primarily among a small group of people in four neighborhoods; Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan and Roxbury.

The mayor also cited the deployment of community intervention teams, a 2023 police contract that includes disciplinary reforms, efforts to boost police staffing levels, programs and summer jobs for youth, and crime data that is now shared regularly with the community.

“It really has been an all-hands-on-deck effort,” Wu said. “This is about saving lives, and that is maybe the most important investment of all — to stop cycles of trauma and violence. We also see that a focus on delivering results, especially in the areas of violent crimes, lead to resources that can then be deployed to address quality of life issues and those safety issues that residents might feel most of all.”

Still, Wu emphasized that “today is not a victory lap” while her senior advisor for community safety Isaac Yablo said there was still work to do.

“We won’t stop until we get to zero,” he said, seemingly referencing homicides.

When pressed about whether repeat violent offenders face a certain amount of jail time prior to being let back out on the streets, Cox didn’t comment on sentencing, which is up to the courts. He said, however, that police are “trying to be as agile as we can” in dealing with issues “as fast as we find out about them.”

Yablo said the city’s gun violence prevention efforts focus, in part, on prioritizing individuals that are “chronically and consistently involved with firearms,” which includes intensive case management.

“The gun violence problem in Boston is not necessarily a juvenile problem,” Yablo said. “It’s actually a grown adult problem. The average age is fluctuated between 27 and 30 years old. That’s the average shooter and person that was shot, so that’s why it’s important that we do the intervention when they’re very young.”

Cox, when asked if the homicides and shootings were mainly one-offs or gang-related, and what was driving the violence, declined to elaborate much, citing respect for the victims’ families, but did say “most of the incidents aren’t random.”

He added that the department has “resolved” or made arrests in 50% of this year’s homicides.

City Councilor Ed Flynn, who has been vocal about public safety issues at and around Mass and Cass and on the Boston Common and is considering a bid for mayor, pointed out that while homicides are down, “part one crime,” which includes violent and property crime, increased overall last year in the city.

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“Part of the solution to create a safer city must include zero tolerance for drug dealing, drug use and violent crime in the city,” Flynn said in a statement. “Fixing the criminal justice system’s revolving door must be part of the solution. When someone is arrested and convicted for drug dealing offenses or a violent crime, a state prison commitment is warranted. We can no longer accept a person who is arrested for a violent offense, back on the street within hours of the arrest.”

Cox said the 1% increase in part one crime was driven by increases in aggravated assaults, commercial burglaries and arsons.

Addressing criticism around Mass and Cass spillover festering in the Common and other neighborhoods since last year’s crackdown on encampments, open-air drug use, and violence, Cox said police have been focused on holding perpetrators accountable. He mentioned the “major drug investigations” that take place “all the time,” and said officers have been “highly responsive” to community demands.

He added, however, that the department is not looking to criminalize people that have mental health issues, and works with the Suffolk District Attorney’s office and courts to get people help, such as through the DA’s “services over sentencing” program.

“We didn’t invent the opioid crisis in general, and I don’t think we can arrest our way out of it, period,” Cox said. “But the fact is, we need to do more to make people feel safer in their communities, and we are trying to do that by being more agile with these teams of officers going in places, making sure people know that we will hold them accountable.”