For almost 3 years, we have been meeting once a month to discuss issues in the Taraval District. We have talked, sometimes argued, and laughed at things that were said or done. Sometimes we were bored too, but the CPAB did some outstanding things for me and the community.
They compiled an email list of community organizations, such as schools, religious organizations, neighborhood groups, neighborhood watch groups, and business groups and divided them up by their type of organization. They also divided them up by the police sector that they were located in. This allowed me to send emails only to affected organizations or to specific police sectors. This was a very time consuming process that the CPAB undertook. It took months to complete.
Another thing they did was design the “Distracted Walking” safety cards. One side of the card has safety tips for pedestrians and the other side has safety tips for robberies. At a meeting I was complaining about people who walk with headphones. I told them about a pedestrian who was wearing headphones and walked in front of an LRV. I told them about one of the many robberies where the victim had headphones on. One of the CPAB members made a comment that we should give them a leaflet that said, “You’ve been mugged”. We all had a big laugh, but when we thought about it we realized that it was a great idea. The cards were made and were passed out to pedestrians in the Taraval District. The Police Department liked the idea so much that our “Distracted Walking” safety cards are now passed out Citywide by officers at the other district stations.
And of course they helped design the new Taraval website.
To the members of the Taraval CPAB, thank you for all your help.