53F and 88%RH, which sounds about right… yesterday was overcast and grey for most of the day, with the occasional light spatter of drops. Nothing you could call rain, but it threatened all day.
I was finally able to attend another type of local neighborhood meeting, this on put on by our Houston police department. It’s called the Positive Interaction Program, and is meant to get homeowners and citizens out and talking to the cops that patrol their area. Our city council rep was there too.
Many crimes were down in our area but burglary, assault, and murder were up. (This is for the area around my neighborhood.) The officer blamed gangs for the increases. Their plan is to try to keep kids from joining, and to lock up anyone caught. Good luck with the intervention, better to spend the time locking up the others. Then the lifestyle doesn’t look so attractive.
There is also an increase in tent camping under freeway bridges and panhandling. The HPD blames TXDoT for not letting them enforce trespassing statutes. The ACLU has sued to stop enforcement too. Since many of the homeless now also have pets, it complicates rousting them. Basically the bums have figured out that state land is safe, and having a pet (that the cops don’t want to house) protects them too. So we get ‘urban campers’ under overpasses, each with a mangy pet.
It was a good chance to hear ‘straight from the horses mouth’ about some of the activity and responses in the surrounding area. And the HPD has their own version of the Citizen’s Police Academy program that I did with our Constables, with a new class forming. I’ve signed up for that as it affords additional training opportunities for graduates too. I met the coordinator, and another guy who lives in my area who helps manage the program. Meatspace!
I encourage all of you to attend any civic meetings in your area, and look for any programs put on by you local cops or fire departments. You WILL learn things, useful things, and have the opportunity to meet people, and talk with people about what’s really going on.
Keep stacking, big changes in the world are afoot…
n