PSA- crime

PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING
TUESDAY, APRIL 1 (no joke!), 7:00 P.M.
ST. GEORGE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 2ND & U STREET NW


Neighbors,

The time has come for us all to take a stand about public safety in our area. Although crime in the Bloomingdale-LeDroit Park area has diminished considerably this decade, we still face more threats to public safety than any of us should have to deal with. And only by working together can we make the changes that will make Bloomingdale safer and even more livable than it is now.

Here is the first of several opportunities for us to act. On Tuesday, April 1st at 7:00 p.m. at St. George's Episcopal Church at U and 2nd Streets NW (enter from the alley), I am convening a meeting of neighbors who will determine the steps we want to take, what we will do to implement those steps, and what the timelines will be for getting things done. We will discuss strategies for bringing in other players.

For example, we will ensure that what comes out of this meeting integrates seamlessly with the upcoming efforts of the Bloomingdale Civic Association (Crime Prevention Strategies & Workshop, Saturday, April 12 at 9:00 a.m. to XM Satellite Radio). We will also be working closely with Commander Lamar Greene and the Fifth District, the Fifth District's Citizens Advisory Council (whose current chair is former ANC Robert Brannum), and the Police Service Area. Once we have set a course, we can then meet with these other players to discuss what neighbors want and are willing to do and develop a plan to achieve those goals.

We also bring to the neighborhood Mayor Fenty, Councilmember Thomas, Chief Lanier, the Executive Office of the Mayor and other District agencies that we will need to handle all the issues that go into a full-bore public safety effort. And that is also when we will all need to make our presence and our feelings known. The District will act if people come together with passion, with unity of purpose, and with clear action requests. We have the power, if we choose to wield it.

To do that, we need to work together. We need to 40-50 people to come out and say that they want change and will put out some time and effort to see that change occurs. And we will get people involved by giving neighbors enough options for what they can do that any of us can find something we can feel comfortable doing. Whether it is working on dealing with the city, setting up security cameras, writing letters to courts when people convicted of committing crimes in the neighborhood are sentenced, listing all the vacant houses that become attractions for criminal behavior, establishing relationships with youth, setting up a system where people can walk together to and from the Metro, checking where trees need trimming to help light the street, and on and on. We have things we can do. We will have a clear list of actions for us, for the police, and for the District to do.

And Together, We will Build a Better Bloomingdale.

John

P.S. If you can't come, drop me a line or give me a call. Let me know if you want to be involved and what you might be interested in doing.

John T. Salatti
Commissioner, ANC 5C04
Recording Secretary, ANC 5C
(202) 986-2592
jsalatti@earthlink.net
"Together, Building a Better Bloomingdale"