Well, Monday night's CAPS meeting appeared to be the beginning of a turn for the better. Our longtime facilitator did not show, so three other women took over facilitating: the Young One, Red, and LSC Lady. The Young One's name will be submitted to the district for review as the potential new facilitator. About 20 people showed up--better attendance than we've had for a while.
They called on each table individually to talk about whatever concerns or issues had brought them to the meeting. It was a long meeting, but the opening especially was well facilitated and lots of people said what they wanted to say, pretty concisely. We have a new third watch sergeant who was OK but didn't impress me much when he was asked about search warrants. I blew it--Ms. Ribs was expecting me to get her and I ran late, so I forgot and went straight there. Someone else mentioned that the cops had raided a house on her block and it was not at all clear whether they had the right to do so.
Quite a few people stuck around afterwards to talk to the officers. Even though the meeting ran long, it was nowhere near as frustrating as some of the past meetings I've attended, because at least I felt like the majority of people were getting their say in. The cops are still not incredibly helpful--much better at talking about dealing with parking problems and citations than about more serious problems--but the local officer who is coming to the meetings now is making some strides in talking with people.
So, perhaps that's one step forward. I'm a bit nervous about the two steps back that are likely to follow....
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