With the Liberty Baptist Church doors locked, about a dozen residents huddled outside last night for a brief PSA 107 meeting. MPD Sargeant Michael Curry filled in for an absent Lt. Michael Thornton. Here are the highlights:
- PSA 107 has seen a big reduction in violent crime in 2011. Sgt. Curry said violent crime is down around 60 percent year-to-date in 2011 compared to 2010.
- Theft from autos have increased this past month, though MPD did make an arrest last week. Since that time, thefts from auto are down.
- Sgt. Curry encouraged residents to avoid keeping any valuable items in their parked cars, such as GPS devices. He also said that storing a device in the glove compartment is not enough…all cords and plugs should be stored as well.
- As the holidays approach, Sgt. Curry reminded residents to secure their homes if they are traveling. While burglaries generally have been down in the PSA, they tend to pick up during the holiday season.
- A number of residents talked about the speeding issues on 17th, 18th and 19th Sts. SE. I shared with the group that I’ve been working with MPD’s photo enforcement division on potential solutions to the speeding issue on 17th St. MPD plans to introduce some promising new photo enforcement technology in early 2012, and I’ve asked them to consider deploying the technology on 17th St. SE.
- Sgt. Curry said that residents should always call 911 when they see suspicious activity…do not call 311 and do not call the MPD substation.
- The next PSA 107 meeting will be on Thursday, Dec. 17 at 7pm. Hopefully we will meet inside Liberty Baptist Church!
Brian Flahaven 