Friday, April 16, 2010

Police at Town meeting

Woodstock didn't go overboard with a police presence at the Dorr Township Annual Town Meeting on Tuesday, as did Grafton Township and the Huntley Police Department at their Town meeting. But was any police presence really needed?

As far as I could see, there was only one officer at Woodstock High School for Tuesday evening's meeting.

At other community events, such as City Council meetings, County Board meetings, school plays and PTO meetings, you don't see a cop standing at the door.

There seemed to be no need for a cop that night. There has been no reports of any threats of disruption or threats against the process of electors' meeting in public for a Town meeting.

The officer who was assigned did remain in the hallway outside the high school auditorium, where he was generally out of sight but available. That was respectful of the peaceful gathering of Township electors.

What do you think? Was it necessary to have a cop stationed in the building for the Town meeting? Would it have been adequate for the beat officer to know that a meeting was in progress at the high school, so that he could respond if there had been a medical emergency or other reason that might call for his response?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I beleive that that in the past the city has itself failed to meet the 5 day requirement for graffiti on its own buildings. So enforecement might be quite lax.