Policing
In July 2022, following a seven-month search, Wu named Michael Cox as the new commissioner of the Boston Police Department.
In June 2023, Wu vetoed a $5 million cut in Boston Police and Veterans Services departments proposed by the City Council calling their attempt "illusory, as the city is obligated to cover salary and overtime expenses incurred by the department," and that the city's budget should be "built on a foundation of effective delivery of city services that are central to our residents' quality of life."
In December 2023, Wu reached a contract agreement with the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association. In the terms of the contract, the union agreed that officers would lose the option to use arbitration to appeal firings or other disciplinary measures if they are convicted of certain crimes. The contract also saw the union agree to allow pay details of the department to be made public, and for there to be more strict outlines on when officers are permitted to take medical leave. Yawu Miller of the Bay State Banner described it as being, "the first [contract] in which [Boston] city officials have managed to secure significant reforms from the Patrolmen’s union." It was approved unanimously by the Boston City Council on December 13, 2024. In March 2024, a similar contract was reached with the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society.
In her first term as mayor, Wu saw great success at meeting her goal of lowering the city's rates of violence. Over the course of 2023, Boston experienced the fewest homicides it had seen in any year on record. 2023 also saw a new record low for gun violence rates in the city. In 2024, the city a significant further reduction in its homicide rate. In 2024, Boston recorded what local law enforcement hailed as one of the city's safest years on record, reaching a new recorded low number of homicides. Murder rates in Boston have been characterized as "plummeting". The number of shooting fatalities was noted to have greatly decreased over the previous three years. By the end of 2024, the city had exceeded its objective of reaching a 20% reduction in annual homicides ahead of schedule. By 2024 and 2025, data indicated that Boston was safer than many similarly sized cities in the United States. An article published by the Vera Institute of Justice in September 2024 found Boston is one of the safest major cities in the United States. In the first half of 2025, Boston homicide rates increased from the year prior. However, its rates were still similar to rates in the first half of 2023, a year which had previously been a record-low year for murders in the city. Crime researcher Thomas Abt observed, "Boston's success in driving gun violence downward now means that small increases in homicides look large in percentage terms. Overall, the city's anti-violence efforts are a success."
As Donald Trump took office in early 2025 for his second presidency, Wu and the new presidential administration emerged as being publicly at odds over the administrations dislike of the existing Boston Trust Act (a so-called "sanctuary city" law), and Wu's steadfast defense of the local law. In March 2025, Wu complied with a congressional subpoena and testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in hearings about major "sanctuary city" policies and cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The hearings featured several other mayors of large American cities. John L. Milcek of MassLive described Wu's performance in the more than five hours of hearings as a "star turn" for her, writing, "the Democratic mayor deftly parried jibes from Republicans who sounded like they’d never set foot in Boston". Sri Taylor of Bloomberg News described the hearing as having carried "high stakes" for Wu, and credited her performance in the hearing with having garnering her a "newfound role as both a favorite foil for Republican critics in Washington and a capable messenger for Democrats," noting that while Republicans on the committee had hoped to hurt Wu's reputation in the hearings, "It was Wu who walked away with a series of sound bites defending Boston and Democrat priorities that made the rounds on social media and bolstered her national presence." In September 2025, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a lawsuit against Boston and its police department, asserting that the Boston Trust Act (a so-called "sanctuary city" ordinance adopted in 2014) is a violation of federal law. Wu is named a co-defendant in her official capacity as mayor.
In Wu's bid for re-election in 2025, her candidacy received an early endorsement from the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association and affiliated emergency medical services (EMS) unions. In their endorsement, the union's leadership praised her performance in office, and noted that this marked the unions' first endorsement of an incumbent mayor's re-election in thirty years.
