The following is an ‘Ask The Chief’ question submitted to TLS, and the Chief’s response. Email your questions for the Chief to [email protected].
Question:
With all do respect, I think it is time to move the night out against crime to a different venue. It is beautiful that it got so big. It got so big it does not fit in pine park.
Thank you
The Chief’s response:
Being the chief of police in a small city can come with many challenges. One being when you host a yearly event that has grown to become a huge success that sees thousands of people in attendance. Having a team off dedicated police officers who volunteer their time, as many come in on their days off and after or before a shift to help with this great event. What goes on behind the scenes is several months of planning and preparing making sure everything goes off with out a hitch.
First there is the weather as it is held in August, during the hottest summer month and this year we had great June like weather and not a drop of rain anywhere. Second is location, and we have certainly pushed the limits at the park, as we can see it’s pretty obvious. So, we have many Monday morning quarterbacks with lots of great ideas and suggestions about location, how to make it better, etc.
Well, I can say that we debrief each large event and begin planning for the next year by looking at the calendar and location. We know traffic getting in and parking is a major factor, and we are taking that into account as well. Let’s face it, like I said, being a chief in a small city has its challenges and we look forward to making an even bigger and better event for next year even with all the challenges we will face.
Again, we hope that if you ventured out that you and the family had a nice time and we had many thank yous and lots of appreciation shown and that is what the event is all about, a chance to give a little back to our great residents.
Your chief of police,
Gregory H. Meyer
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Have a question for the Chief? Email it to [email protected]
Have a question for the Mayor? Email it to [email protected]
We had a great time there!
Thank you for all that put in the work and effort.
As others have mentioned, the traffic. And parking was extremely difficult and time consuming and also waiting in lines for food for so long, possibly something can be set up differently (more ppl serving at once and offering multiple lines?)
Thank you again for a fantastic event though!
Rather than seek out a different location, Pine Park should be expanded to make more room for the event.
I am not very handy when it comes to construction, but I’m wiling to bring my shovel to the park on a daily basis to begin the process of digging and expanding the park. If we can get 50 or so volunteers to bring their shovels there, and to start digging there on a daily basis, we can make the park big enough to host the Night Out Against Crime event for years and decades to come.
Thank you again for a wonderful event! Our kids greatly enjoyed and look forward to next years event. Yes, the traffic getting in was very stressful. Hopefully that can be improved. But thank you again for a family friendly night out !
Dear Mayor Coles,
Thank you for the wonderful work you do.
I have 2 minor issues I hope you can address.
1. My front yard is overgrown with tall grass, weeds, garbage & broken toys. The neighbors are starting to complain. Considering how much you do for the community I was hoping you could come by & take care of my lawn (bring your own tools). The only time that works for me is 12pm-1pm on Tuesday as the older kids aren’t home & the baby is just finished napping. To make this arrangement even better for you I will have very, very delicious & very very yummy (Glatt Kosher) lemonade available.
2. I have a beautiful garden that used to produce wonderful vegetables. The problem is I have animals eating the crops. I was hoping you could assign a police officer to protect my garden. I’m sure if the officer fired his gun when seeing an animal approaching the garden they would quickly learn to stay away.
Please let me know & keep up the wonderful, wonderful work you do for Lakewood.
A very grateful (& proud) Lakewood resident.
Are you sure your name isn’t asinine commenter?
Haha 🙂 I also was thinking that and scrolled back up to see if I misread the commenter’s name 🙂
Lakewood Scoop: how could you let such a nasty & stupid comment through? Does the Mayor not work hard enough for the community that you accept such a sarcastic & not funny remark?
@lakewood resident & Anti Wole estab
Lakewood scoop is doing the right thing by allowing these comments, just because you don’t agree or even most people disagree with they are still protected under the US right to free speech and just Stam to let them say there comment, not everyone has to agree with Lakewood TWP/police or TLS..
I used to go to Night out Against Crime with my grandchildren, but, since I had to do so much walking from the parking area, I haven’t gone in a few years. I’m not complaining, just stating the facts. Keep up the good work. It is wonderful to live in a town like this with such a nice friendly police force. (I’m just sorry the town grew so big. I’ve been living here for 50 years and I liked it much better when it was MUCH smaller)
I thought these comments were previewed before posting. The comment for the mayor – that is so disrespectful to the mayor and for all the township leaders.
It is not humor – also please review asinine commenter – those comments are becoming a bit troublesome.
When I go to the liquor store to buy cigarettes there are people soliciting and asking for money and this is becoming a big problem