With the holiday season now upon us, we urge our readers to remember to be aware of your surroundings as you race from a holiday party to planning for friends and family visiting to just coming back with your Christmas shopping. This piece of advice is all the more relevant with the recent home invasion and sexual assault that happened on Joy and Myrtle Streets in the early morning hours on November 10.
While much has been done to move along the unsavory elements in both the Boston Common and Public Garden, these backyards for the residents can still be pretty dangerous at night and especially during the holidays. The proximity of these open spaces to Beacon Hill makes it easy for this element to gravitate to the neighborhood. The police are in active pursuit of the attacker in the incident on November 10, but, in the meantime, a few simple precautions can make all the difference in not making this holiday season or any time of year tragic.
* Always be aware of your surroundings, especially at night. Remain in well lit and populated places.
* Do not become distracted by talking on a cell phone or texting.
* Avoid walking alone late at night.
* Carry a cell phone.
* Yelling “fire”, “rape” or “help” are ways of drawing attention and alerting other people who might be able to help.
* Hold your car keys in your hand as a weapon.
As any victim of a mugging can tell you, somehow what is only a matter of a minute seems for the victim to be an eternity. As aggravating as it is to give up your wallet or purse to put a struggle would be unwise, and could result in far greater injury than having to cancel some credit cards.
At a recent public meeting, Captain Tom Lee reiterated that our neighborhood is safe. The attack on November 10 was an outlier. The police have placed more patrols on our streets. However, all these measures will not stop this crime from happening again, if we do not heed some simple preventative measures.