I spent 10 years in Boston starting in the late 1960's. A lot of crime and we had to fend off a lot of it ourselves. Growing up the girls in my family get stories of self-defense from me, my granddaughters do to now. What I learned in Boston was work to make yourself a less target for crime and ban together in your neighborhood and take actions to take the Welcome Mat away from shady characters. Keep up the work. What I learned in Alaska in 1978 since I have been here? How to own a gun.  I like going to my family's neighborhood in Anchorage and see the new "Neighborhood" watch signs up.