Boston has the measles? the mumps? nope.. the murders!

In light of the end of the 2010 calendar year many lists of the top "fill in the blank" are posted every December. The best artists of the year, the best songs of the year, the best moments of the year, the best news stories of the year. And now Boston.com has published murders in Boston in 2010. So no this is not the measles or the mumps digitally imposed onto a map of Boston, although it does show how sick our town has become, it is murders in Boston in 2010. This article also lists the who, where, how, and with what, including the murder weapon, all of which are by gun or knife except for one by flying shards of glass.

The only thing that this article is missing, and perhaps the most important, is the why. Why are there 71 total murders in Boston in one year? Why are most of them with guns or knives? Why is there not more going on to stop this violence in our city?

I think in light of the massive amounts of murder happening in such a great city, the Boston Police Department, along with the mayor and all of the safety committees that we have, need to step it up in 2011 to help make this city safe. Gun control, more police presence, more funding for programs to get kids off the streets. Any of these things would help to cut down on murders and violence in Boston, along with many other things that I can't even think of. If officials would take the large number of murders in 2010 into account and use it as a way of trying to change things for the better, for the safer, in 2011, Boston's picture might not have the murder measles and mumps next year.