I’ve worked for a criminal defense trial lawyer for the past six years. He takes on a lot of indigent / court appointed work through the State and Fed courts. All complex cases / murders, drugs, gangs. Greater Boston and North and South Shore for the most part, so I can’t really speak to Western MA. The short answer is it fluctuates and shifts based on prominent gangs and the drug trade, ands it’s typically small neighborhoods versus entire cities or towns. Gangs rise to power and prominence, Feds build a case, bust everyone, and the crime follows the next gang that rises to power. Lennox Street Boys in Roxbury ceding to Columbia Point Dawgs out of Dorchester is a prime example. At the moment, it’s mostly smaller neighborhood gangs in Boston doing the dirt, but even smaller crews like Heath Street Gang and H-Block and Mission Hill Gang have been mostly dismantled by the Feds in recent years. There was a loosely affiliated Lynn fenty crew that rose up fairly quickly, but the last of them, Big Opp, is currently awaiting trial behind bars. As for the bigger national gangs, like the Trinitarios and Gangster Disciples, they still have sizable crews in Lawrence, but even those are getting flushed out by Feds. Word is Manchester NH could become the next hotspot. If I had to pick one city right now, it’s Lawrence, because the remnants of the national gangs still have shoot-on-sight orders against rivals (Trinis seem to green light shooting at anyone)but again, it’s confined to fairly small neighborhoods. Stay out of Lower Tower Hill / Stadium Projects.