Ward 5 Community Forum on Public Safety

So, if you have not noticed I decided to join Twitter and you are welcome to follow me @lifeontheedgewd. I live tweeted from the meeting last night and will do it from all the meetings that I attend. I'm not going to the ANC5C meeting tonight because I am intrigued by the Solar Co-op group presenting at the Brookland meeting.

I wanted to write up a summary of what I learned at the Ward 5 Community Forum on Public Safety meeting that I attended last night. I was hoping for a more interactive meeting that resulted in more community involvement in public safety, but that was not how this meeting turned out. It started with presentations from the 5D and 4D police commanders about the crime trends in the different PSAs. Edgewood is in PSA501 and we seem to have a big decrease in most crimes. That being said there are still plenty of crimes happening. After that the police chief spoke, Metro PD spoke, and Harry Thomas used electronic surveys that were informative, but not what I would call useful.

Here are the useful bits of information that I learned:

1) Join the listserve!! I joined this morning and already found out about a potential incident on the Metropolitan Branch Trail and what is being done to stop any further incidents. (all you have to do is email MPD-5D-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or look at the website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MPD-5D)

2) Speak up if you see something suspicious - you can call 911, email the listserve or text to 50411. You can remain anonymous thru the text tip!!

3) Come to your PSA meeting. The PSA501 meeting is tomorrow at the Edgewood Recreation center.

4) Consider submitting a Community Impact Statement for sentencing considerations

5) Be smart - "buddy system", don't use expensive electronics on metro near doors or while walking alone, look out for your neighbors, don't leave valuables in your car, use your alarm system if you have one, lock your doors and windows

While, I did get some good information from the meeting here are things that I would like to see more of and what I would consider community public safety:

1) Safety walks

2) Neighborhood watches

3) Social with neighborhood police (actually suggested by one of the officers at the meeting)

4) Self defense classes at community rec centers

Anyone else have some ideas on what they would like to see started in the neighborhood? I am going to offer up my suggestions at the PSA501 meeting tomorrow and see what happens.