At a press briefing this week, Boston Police command staff spoke passionately, and with great frustration, about the "culture of indifference" they say stymies their efforts to solve crimes and prevent fresh violence in the neighborhoods. The exasperated chief of the BPD homicide unit, Deputy Dan Coleman, candidly lamented how his own detectives - and the civilians they rely on for information- live with a constant threat of reprisals from criminals. Commissioner O'Toole, too, told of how the mother of a shooting victim refused to cooperate with police out of fear of retalitation.

Both O'Toole and Coleman widened their criticisms to include the larger cultural forces in the society. Pressed by reporters to explain what she meant by a culture of indifference, O'Toole said, "All you have to do is listen to the music on the radio everyday."

The pushback against rap music and hip hop culture in general has taken on new momentum since the murders last month of four aspiring rap artists. The foreboding and violent lyrics of the group- who called themselves Graveside- further served the arguments of those looking to find a motive in the music. But the young men killed in that basement were without any serious crininal record and there are no indications that their makeshift studio ever had been a problem in the neighborhood.

There are certainly elements of popular culture that pour gasoline on the fires of city neighborhoods beset with violence. But the inpulse to heap blame for the disappointing clearance rate of the homicide unit this past year on rappers, artists and their fan base is a simplistic and unproductive response. Other major cities also carry radio and TV programming that- on its surface- glorify violence, guns and misogyny. Kids and teens across the country- both city and suburban- relish violent video games and movies too.

But, how to explain New York City, the undisputed capitol of hip hop culture and rap music, which has seen its murder rate plummet and, in 2005, marked its lowest homicide rate since 1963? Meanwhile, New York managed to close a much larger percentage of murder and shooting cases than Boston. How is it that popular culture - certainly as prevalent in this city as the Big Apple- could be that much more effective in its destructive qualities?

Perhaps leaders need to take a different tact ito the cultural divide they view as an obstacle to their investigations. Hip hop culture, for all of its negatives, is not some regional phenomenon that can be marginalized and ignored. It is a worldwide lifestyle that has informed several generations of teens and young adults. Hip hop groups perform at presidential inaugural balls and national conventions. MTV enlists some of the industry's most popular artists to promote voter registration and other "good citizen" campaigns. During the Democratic Convention here in 2004, a rap-star studded youth rally drew thousands of city kids to the Reggie Lewis Center for a day of voter registration and, of course, performances.

That sort of innovative programming and grassroots organizing is what's needed now to mobilize against the new breed of violence on our streets. The solutions to lowering our homicide rate- and improving the clearances- are many and complex. But one thing that surely won't work is demonizing a whole culture that city kids call their own.