Friends,
Thanks for your ongoing support of our petition. Linked below is a summary of the meeting MPD, Human Services and some other city reps had with us regarding public safety in Chinatown and MVT. St. Mary's is anxious to hear your thoughts so we can arrange a meeting with newly re-elected Councilwoman Pinto. Our number 1 concern following this meeting is that there appears to be a gap between the police being asked to "dial down" pursuit of quality of life crimes and the city "dialing up" non-MPD resources to combat this challenges to daily life and business. Non-MPD service providers seem to have 2 challenges: (a) They are understaffed/under-budgeted for the task at hand (b) as grant recipients and not direct employees of the District, they may not be able to respond as nimbly or with the detail needed at this moment.
After collecting input from neighbors and friends we hope to meet with Ms. Pinto and advocate for the immediate closing of the gap left by the Council reining in the MPD and failing to adequately increase alternative resources. Please feel free to contact us at our parish offices with input.
-Your neighbors at St. Mary's