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Women out late at night targeted by criminal cabbies
By adamg on Wed, 12/17/2008 - 10:36am
Boston Police report five incidents since October involving women who say they were attacked or raped by taxi and limo drivers between 11:50 p.m. and 5:30 a.m., most recently, the case of the Northeastern student picked up and allegedly raped in a cabbie's van on Dec. 7.
Two of the incidents involved women picked up in Park Plaza; the others were in Uphams Corner, on Atlantic Avenue and in Saugus (the Northeastern student). In two cases, the victims gave similar descriptions: A man, 5'8" and speaking with a foreign accent (in one of those cases, the woman described the driver as "Middle Eastern," in the other, she described him as "tan").
Police say women should avoid walking alone late at night, should not wear high heels, shouldn't accept rides from men in non-Boston cabs or personal vehicles and should never sit in the front seat. Also: Car keys make a useful weapon.
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Comments
defend yoruself with keys?
Might as well use happy thoughts...
Go to your local Police Department and get a Pepper Spray FID ($25). Then go get some pepper spray.
Or better yet, get your LTC and buy a revolver.
A revolver? Can opened;
A revolver?
Can opened; worms everywhere.
A key held in a balled fist
A key held in a balled fist to the eyeball will work plenty good.
Maybe it's time we move the cab business from transient workers to full time hires and employed. The state of the cab industry in this city is despicable, even as they claim they need to raise fairs.
Absolutely not!
You shouldn't carry a gun, because the bad guy will just take it away from you and use it against you. Whereas, a set of car keys imparts superhuman strength and combat readiness upon any woman carrying them. There's no way she could ever be disarmed then. Same applied to cell phones.
I was waiting for you to
I was waiting for you to jump in with something like this. You did not disappoint.
If someone has car keys with
If someone has car keys with them, wouldn't they probably have a car, too?
Probably, but ...
People do leave their cars at home for parties or whatnot. Still take their keys with them, I bet.
Skeleton Keys...
... make the best eye-pokers.
Any object that can be made to stick between the fingers of your fist will do. Pens, pencils, keys; sharp is always better, too.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Lipstick tubes
I took a self-defense course in high school, and the police officer told us that lipstick tubes (with the lipstick rolled down)can be used too. The idea is to make a fist and secure the tube (lipstick side out) btwn 2 fingers. The officer told us that there's actually a popping sound if the tube is punched into the attacker's eyeball.
MYPENISINMYHAND
Any object that can be made to stick between the fingers of your fist will do. Pens...
I totally misread that last word there. :o\
But yes, keeping a pen in one's hand is a great way to fend off attackers!
Just ask Bob Dole
Bob Dole's never been attacked. Just ask Bob Dole.
Good luck to you
You keep you pen. I'll take the pepper spray.
The penismightier
than the sword
House keys wouldn't work?
House keys are sharper than car keys, generally.
Also, is it OK to accept rides from women in rogue cabs? Or people of androgynous gender identity in rogue cabs? Way to portray men as having a monopoly on violence, BPD!
Yes, women can be just as vicious as men
But where is BPD stereotyping here? They reported on five incidents, all of which involved male cabbies jumping female riders. Their alert doesn't say "Don't accept rides from male cabbies from Braintree," but "Don't accept rides from cabs from Braintree."
So would it be OK...?
...if they said not to accept rides from unlicensed Black cab drivers? Or unlicensed cab drivers who are high school graduates? Or unlicensed cab drivers with bad combovers?
Or to be careful of white Lutherans, since they tend to blow up federal buildings?
It's usually irrelevant to include demographic information in a compilation of criminals' MOs. It's much more relevant that you SHOULDN'T GET IN AN UNLICENSED CAB. Who cares whotf is driving it?
Statistically ...
women don't commit a large percentage of violent crimes, especially against strangers, and especially sexual assaults. So I'd expect to be less likely to be victimized if I took a ride from a female cabbie.
Aw, Geez
Eeka's trying to be nice to us, guys. Lay off :-)
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Statistics don't mean anything if you're that one person
Yeah, I know they didn't mean it in any malicious way, but they're walking the line of profiling.
Telling people not to take rides from unlicensed cabs is completely reasonable. Driving an unlicensed cab is a behavior, and cabs are licensed to provide accountability and regulation.
Is it suddenly different if the unlicensed cab drive is female? Is it no longer a sketchy behavior? Does the BPD have sympathy and attempt to track down the non-cabbie who overcharged you if it's not a male one? Of course not. There are many reasons not to ride in unlicensed cabs or to take rides from strangers, and a person's gender presentation has nothing to do with any of them.
There are females who commit violent crimes and sexual crimes. Not many, but they exist. The statistics don't mean much to you if you're one of those people who has been victimized by a female. It still sucks.
you forgot
Or people of androgynous gender identity in rogue cabs?
YEAH! And what about libertarian pansexual humanist vegans? Livejournal users, by your powers of whining, UNITE!
Um, Brett?
Are you really, truly posting to let us know that you're somehow bothered by some people's gender identity? That speaks a lot more about you than the people you're trying to, um, hm, I'm not actually sure what your point is.
Seriously?
The advice seems pretty useless. Don't take an unlicensed cab? From the description, some of the women DID take a licensed cab (not proven, tho).
And who is going to expect to have their keys at the ready when getting into a cab? They'd be in my pocket or the bottom of my purse. Unfortunately, I probably wouldn't think to have my pepper spray at the ready either for a cab ride. I guess I'll have to think about it now. Although, in a small, enclosed space, you might end up hurting yourself as much as the attacker.
Don't go in a cab alone? Aren't women advised to take cabs to avoid walking home alone? What are you supposed to do if no one you know is taking a cab from the bar or it was a late night at the office? Are we supposed to start calling the police for safe rides home?
I'm not saying the BPD aren't trying to be helpful, but their tips are small comfort.