Good afternoon,
Most members are aware that, in an effort to evenly distribute the Department’s workload, we recently realigned police districts and Police Service Area (PSA) boundaries. As a result of this realignment, MPD added 10 more PSAs across the seven police districts. (From 46 to 56)
I have instructed each District Commander to ensure that each PSA lieutenant (to include those in the newly formed areas) hold introductory PSA Community meetings in the month of February. During this time, the Commanders will gauge attendance and public interest in regular monthly meetings. The Commanders will then make decisions on whether a PSA will continue to hold regular monthly meetings, whether certain meetings should be combined, or whether certain meetings should be cancelled altogether for a more modern way of ongoing dialogue.
While we remain committed to continually finding ways to improve the information flow with our residents and visitors, it is imperative that we look for the most efficient ways to relay the information. I firmly believe that a large part of the decreased attendance, over the years, at the PSA meetings can be attributed to the instantaneous information flow created by our Yahoo Groups Listserv, face book, Twitter communication and ongoing Neighborhood Watch training (information below). I would much rather see PSA lieutenants use his or her time to address the crime issues, rather than preparing for a meeting that has very low attendance.
Lastly, I encourage everyone to attend your District’s monthly Citizen Advisory Council (CAC) meetings. These meetings are a great forum to discuss your issues with crime. In addition, the District Commander attends these monthly CAC meetings at the districts, and my Command Staff and I meet with the CAC Chairpersons monthly. We will work together to ensure that dates for the CAC meetings are posted and shared around the city.
I appreciate everyone’s patience during our recent transition and I encourage everyone to engage their PSA lieutenants and District Commanders with any concerns surrounding your neighborhood. We can continue to drive down crime in the District if we work as a team.
Sincerely,
Cathy L. Lanier
Chief of Police
