good meeting

i went to my first "community meeting" tonight. it was a pretty good meeting. there were a lot of people from the ward there, but only me and a neighbor from this neighborhood. the "officials" that were there were our ward 19 council person Ms. Donna Brady. Also there was 1st district police commander, a local sargeant and leiutenant and a sargeant that works under the city police chief.

when it came time for me to comment i related the story about driving home a few weeks ago when i had to stop in the road as to not hit a drug dealer while he was making sale. when i got to the house, i called the police and after being transefered to the 1st district, the lady i spoke with was only able to inform me that "it's gonna be a long summer." when i finished with my comment, the commander's face was beet red. he told me more than once how inappropriate a response that was.

i know the cops are busy, i know the resources aren't there to hire all the police that the general public think we need, i wish i knew what a better answer was.

the commander talked about resurecting the bicylce patrols, that they are going to use them in pairs this summer in the parks and the pools, that 1st district is ahead of the others. it's a start.

an older gentleman asked what would happen if "one of these 150lb. dumbasses walked in front of my 3500lb. car and i couldn't stop?" the commander replied that he should call his insurance company. it got a good laugh.

they also talked about arrests made and the progress in fighting the drug trade. i'm a little torn inside on the drug issue. i don't agree with marijuana being illegal. i think the energies that are used to "combat" mairjuana could be used elsewhere. saying that, should crack be legal? the schemantics of the argument are so fine, it's hard to pin down definitves.

after the meeting i talked with one of the sargeants and asked if i could do anything. i offered to take pictures of the dealers while they were making transactions, that i could start keeping track of who is who and their patterns. i said i have a second floor window with a good view ofthe park and that i'd be happy to sit for a while and see what i could see. he asked if i would mind a vice officer using my hose to sit and watch for a while, i said no problem and gave him my number. we'll see what happens.

i asked about my hand gun, he asked if it was registered and i said i thought it was. i explained the process in which i bought it and he said to call him next week and stop by the station, that he'd check it out and make sure i was then get me registered in the city. i have a right to have it in my home, so why not make sure it's legit?

i talked to the council lady a bit and she told me she knew me, and knew that i bought ms. walker's house. i was surprised that she knew, but i guess that just affirms what the neighbors have said, that the lady was crazy, and that the council lady is in touch with her ward. i mentioned hearing something about the lady walking outside with a gun, and the council lady said "oh yes, that's how we got her, she went into the yard after children with a gun." i mentioned the insane writtings on the wall, and ms. brady said she wasn't surprised. gerat, i bought the crazy ladies house.

Ms. Brady also invited me to a political meeting after she asked if I was a democrat or not. sould be fun. i wan;t to get involved in my community, that's part of being a homeowner, right?

i hope i can do something. i want to do something.