By Michele Richinick and Erin Kelly
While many may still subscribe to longstanding beliefs that Mission Hill is unsafe, some Northeastern students who live on the Hill said they don’t feel threatened, even in light of the recent homicide of Northeastern student Rebecca Payne.
“I wouldn’t move off the Hill for anything – it is a great mix of young families and young adults,” said Alexis Bevilacqua, a senior communication studies major. “There has been much more police presence [since the homicide] so I have felt a little more protected. It is not just Mission Hill – we are in a city [where] anywhere is going to have crime. That’s just part of the deal.”
Boston City Councilor Michael Ross said in local media reports that Mission Hill is a safe place to live.
According to the reports, Ross, who lives about five houses away from the Parker Hill Avenue apartment complex where Payne was killed, said Mission Hill is a police-friendly neighborhood with an active crime-watch group.
“There is a strong dialogue among the community and police,” Ross said.
Some students, like Steve Michna, a middler civil engineering major, said they still feel safe going to Mission Hill. But Michna said he wouldn’t let female friends walk home alone late at night. Others said they feel comfortable regardless of gender.
“I feel extremely safe living on this side of the Hill,” said Allison Millar, a senior biology major. “I’ve never had a problem. In fact, I heard a few gunshots living on Symphony Road, a few on Columbus, and have heard none up here so far.”
While the Northeastern University Division of Public Safety (NUPD) does not keep statistics on crimes in the Mission Hill area, director Jim Ferrier said in an e-mail to The News that university police have “heard of relatively few Northeastern students over the years who have been victims of violence in that neighborhood.”
Northeastern does not lease any properties in the Mission Hill area, Ferrier said, therefore NUPD does not have jurisdiction there. He added that the Boston Police Department (BPD) holds a community meeting on the last Thursday of every month in the Mission Church with the Mission Hill Residents Crime Committee.
“At the meeting, BPD reviews the crime trends for the previous month and holds a discussion about neighborhood safety issues,” Ferrier said. “A representative of NU’s Government Relations Department usually attends those meetings, which often consist of discussions about student noise as well as other crime trends.”
Ferrier also referred to a message sent out last week to all myNEU users, which provided safety tips to students living off-campus and reminded everyone to be vigilant of their surroundings.
“Boston Police have increased their patrol presence in the Mission Hill neighborhood and the CrimeStoppers Unit and NUPD officers are distributing the Anonymous Text-A-Tip brochure in the neighborhood and on campus,” according to the Safenet message.
Some tips from the Safenet message were to avoid walking alone at night and to take advantage of Northeastern’s off-campus nightly shuttle service to get back to an apartment if it is within a mile of campus.
Students, like Alex Talbott, a sophomore international business major, said they feel relatively safe living on Mission Hill, but the environment has changed with Payne’s death.
“Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I believe if you take the necessary precautions and avoid foolish decisions, you should be all right,” Talbott said. “I must admit, however, I am looking forward to moving [to] a safer environment in the following months. Though the area has cheap housing, the tragedy that affected the Payne family cast an eerie feeling over the neighborhood in the days following.”
