Crime Meeting

Sat in on a meeting between residents of the Arbor District, Interim Police Chief Jeff Grubbs and City Manger Allen Gill. Councilman Joel Fritzler and council candidate Justin Stofferahn (who brought cookies, an admirable quality in a city council person) were also there. The main concern I heard brought up was a break down in communication between the Neighborhood Watch captains, a few of which were present, and the police department, especially regarding a couple of recent muggings and a sexual assault in the area. The Watch captains were concerned because they found out about the crimes through the news media rather than through the officer coordinating the Neighborhood Watch.

Chief Grubbs heavily emphasized checking the police department's website for the latest information regarding crimes in the city and signing up for emailed press releases from the department but never did explain why the Neighborhood Watch officer couldn't set up a mailbox to send out emails to the Neighborhood Watch captains regarding incidents in their neighborhoods. The chief reacted without much enthusiasm to the idea of a My Space or Facebook page for the department, saying he preferred to funnel people to the department website rather than pushing information out. He also said crime in Carbondale was at "the low end of a 10 year cycle" and that burglaries in the District were half what they were the previous August through January.

There was also some concern expressed about enforcing maintenance codes regarding vacant and rental properties, which Manager Gill said would be looked into. When an inquiry was made about additional street lighting, Gill said if a list of requested spots was turned into his office, the city would survey them and see if the site met the regulations for installing another light. The meeting ended shortly thereafter.