A residents’ group is being formed. Everyone is being asked to come to the Joyce Beers Community Center (map 6-B) on Tuesday, February 13th for a 6:30pm. The steering committee will share their suggestions for a name (the “Hillcrest Town Council”), boundaries and a misson statement. Hillcrest Neighborhood Watch will begin each monthly meeting. Please email for a flier or questions.
This is part of a letter from a Hillcrest resident: I had two reasons for being down after the (January) meeting at the Joyce Beers Center. The admission that the police have not been enforcing the van/converted truck “residences,” and the absolutely wrong statement the young, enthusiast and public-relations minded officer made about arresting people for kicking the soles of the shoes of people sleeping on public property/walkways. I say he is wrong because this procedure is the advice I received FROM the police when I was in charge of branch library buildings and we sometimes had this issue with people attempting to reside on those properties. In fact, I believe the paraphrase I received from the police was: we’re not going to come over and kick their shoes for you. (I suppose you realize that kicking the shoes is what the police do do in these situations.)
I did not feel like confronting the officer publicly at that meeting (although I came very, very close) because I was so angry with him and I did not want to polarize the meeting and have a confrontation between the badge of authority and some older woman. Credibility was on his side, much to my dismay. I did note the silence which lasted a long time after he made the erroneous statement. I think people were dismayed by a feeling of helplessness and the realization that the police are of no real help for most of us, at least not in regard to non-emergency matters.
I was among those who walked away from this meeting with the feeling that the “order” has gone out of “law and order.” I also feel very strongly about the futility of the “correct” procedure of calling a non-emergency number and having a complaint filed…indefinitely. Then the police can point to the bulging files and comment on “their” workload. I don’t feel like adding to their burden. I have heard all the reasons why they cannot act, and I believe them. But I do think there needs to be a movement away from protecting only the rights of the perpetrators and leaving the victims, i.e. the general public, to fend for themselves until the police do get around to it.
What do you think? Please come to the next meeting.
