Community Policing in Action

Many of you know that I am a big proponent of community policing. Increased presence by MPD in our city's neighborhoods acts as a crime deterrent and gives officers and members of the community a chance to interact with each other, thus increasing mutual understanding. I came across a note posted on the 4th police district user group which is a very positive sign:

I was very, very happy to see this evening that officer's from MPD4 stopped
and talked to a group of young adults that were "acting up" and drinking in
public in the neighborhood. While I am sure that the youths were doing nothing
completely illegal (other than open containers!), I was very happy to see our
officers stop and talk to the group, break it up and make their presence known.
Thank you MPD4 officers--this is exactly the type of thing I hope to see occur
more often in our neighborhood! (Posted by Todd on 14th Street)

I want to tip my hat to the officers in 4D for having a positive impact on our community. Law enforcement is not a perfect science, and we know from my post last week about the 911 debacle that bureaucracy can put strains on the system. I believe that the burdensome process of papering, over-reaching internal investigations and the sub-par use of technology all need to be fixed. However, there is no substitute for officers that truly care about the communities in which they patrol. MPD has some of the finest officers in the nation, and despite occasional missteps, we should all be proud to have them.