Is It Possible YOU GUYS Are Being Lied To?

The 4th monthly meeting of the so-called SAFETY Committee that took place last night was nothing more than a farce.  This may have been the worst, messiest, most unproductive meeting so far.  It seems that the more the committee is asked to do, the less they get accomplished.  And HPD is no help.

Here are just a few things from the meeting to laugh (or weep) about.

Because committee chair Henry Haddad was absent, Dewan Sarowar took over.  We're done for!  Dewan Sarowar, the 2nd ward council member who nearly everyone has a difficult time understanding the words out of his mouth and who owns a house in Greenport with his wife that he claims not to live in.

The issue of speeding vehicles and HPD's enforcement of the speed limit was brought to the attention of the committee by a Warren Street resident attending the meeting in person.  Committee member Claire Cousin decided to weigh in with her understanding of the issue.  She tried to allay the resident's concerns by saying that since the weather was warming up HPD would be out on bicycle patrol "in the Warren Street area more," as if a cop on a bicycle could do anything but get out of the way of a speeding vehicle.  She then asked the other committee members, "When was the speed limit lowered to 20 in the city?"  She had no idea that the city's speed limit was changed from 30 to 25 a year or two ago.  Two people in the room corrected her cluelessness about the city's speed limit.  And what is the relevance of when the speed limit was changed, anyway? 

Prior to last night's meeting, at least one SAFETY Committee member was not aware what the city speed limit is.  Do you wonder why nothing ever gets accomplished at City Hall?

With HPD Chief Franklin "away at school," Captain Miller gave the monthly HPD report and -- his specialty -- the parking report.  The HPD report, of course, lasted all of less than 45 seconds and contained no data or mention about crime in the city.  For parking, he gave a revenue number as well as the number of tickets that were issued in April.  And that was it.  No mention of when the final ten parking kiosks will make an appearance or where they are right now.  No mention of the signs that keep falling off the meter poles or how much he is spending on replacing them.  No mention of when the new paid parking system will be up and running on its own when everything is in place.  No mention of how many complaints the Parking Bureau is getting about the new parking and ticket system.  No mention of how many people were assaulted in the city last month.

I took the lead picture this morning.  4 or 5 days ago, with one screw at the top holding them together, two $19 signs were placed back-to-back and secured to the bracket atop that pole after a single sign on it had been ripped off by a vandal or the wind.  When Captain Miller is informed that two more parking signs of his are missing from an old meter pole, he will once again have to put aside all concern for law enforcement and figure out how to get two more plastic scannable paid parking signs on that pole. 

There's a lot that could and should be said about, and quoted from, last night's meeting, but I will leave you with this.  In response to the Warren Street resident's concerns about speeding, Captain David Miller told him (and the committee and the public) that -- though he wasn't sure -- HPD issues 200-250 speeding tickets per quarter in the City Of Hudson.  He actually said this.  Miller could not give the resident any idea where the majority of those tickets are being issued.  In his defense, Miller told the resident, "Well, it's a two-mile radius city, ya know." (Actually, Captain Miller, Hudson's area is two SQUARE miles.)  Miller concluded with this:  "I just don't have the number off the top of my head for that.  Like if you were here last month, I had the sheets in front of me, that's all.  Sorry... We do write a lot of tickets."  If Captain Miller "had the sheets" regarding speeding tickets in front of him last month, why didn't he or his boss mention anything about them last month? 

It's worth noting that HPD never mentions data about speed limit enforcement or speeding tickets during their monthly HPD reports -- not this year, not last, nor in the past 9 years.  They don't bring the issue of speeding enforcement up BECAUSE ENFORCEMENT OF THE SPEED LIMIT DOWNTOWN DOES NOT HAPPEN.  You can't talk about something if it isn't actually happening!  If you do make claims about something that isn't happening, I think it's commonly regarded as lying or telling untruths.  4 or 5 years ago, HPD Chief Ed Moore admitted that HPD isn't able to use the speed radar gun downtown due to the narrowness of the streets.  It's well known THAT HPD DOES NOT ENFORCE THE SPEED LIMIT DOWNTOWN AND PROBABLY NEVER HAS!  Why do you think we have a speeding problem?

When my chance came to speak last night (virtually), I decided to make sure I had heard Captain Miller correctly about his speeding ticket data. I was under the impression that he had said HPD was issuing 200-250 tickets per month.  He corrected me: "For the first quarter of the year, I believe it was around 200, 250.  Might be more, for the first quarter."

"So, you're writing about less than 100 speeding tickets a month?" I asked.

"Yeah, whatever that, divide that number," was the response from the second-in-command at HPD.  (What is in quotes is exactly what he said.)

We should all be happy to know that the Hudson Police Department is issuing an average of at least 3 speeding tickets a day, 7 days a week, 30 days a month.  At least they did so in the first three months of this year, according to our Police Captain, though he's not even sure of the accuracy of his numbers because he didn't bring the sheets containing that information to last night's meeting, but he had it with him at last month's meeting and still didn't refer to it then!

After I called out Miller's speeding ticket data as a "bald-faced lie," I was cut off from speaking.   Miller wasn't done explaining, however.  Pointing to papers "sheets" in front of him, he then said this to the committee "guys" in the room:  "Just so you guys know, these reports that we have here are not our reports per se.  These are what you guys asked for in the past.  If you guys want more, you can just ask and we can give it monthly."

Huh?

If the "reports" you bring to the SAFETY Committee meetings aren't yours, Captain Miller, whose are they? 

He uttered "YOU GUYS" three times, with Claire Cousin seated next to him!  Claire is just another guy on the SAFETY Committee, one who thinks HPD bicycle patrols will slow down speeding vehicles on Warren Street and keep them to the 20 mph city speed limit so that no pedestrians crossing the street are run over and maimed or killed.  

Miller is nothing if not crafty; he subtly makes the distinction clear to those in the room:  "You guys" are on the SAFETY Committee, I am not.  HPD is not here to help, we are not part of this committee.  We will show up and make our reports as brief as possible, but you have to tell us what to bring and tell us what you want to be told.  Don't expect us to be proactive about anything.  Tell us what reports to bring to you and we will do it, even though they won't be "our reports."  I am here to make up numbers that are on a sheet somewhere else, and I am here to confuse the hell out of all of you.  And maybe lie to you at the same time.

What an absolutely disgraceful mess!