Feb 1, 2008

Letters

Wind chimes

Dear Editor: For all of you out there who have wind chimes, please, I beg of you, bury them in the backyard. For every person who finds their tinkling delightful, there are two others, usually those trying to follow a train of thought in the wee hours, who experience them as an assault. We live too much on top of each other in these close quarters called "city life" to indulge this hideous violation of the all-too-rare Blessed Silence [it's not the tinkling per se but its never-endingness that grates]. And there's no way to contain the damage. Please, show some compassion for your fellow trapped slaves.

(If you know someone who needs to see this letter, please share it.)

Pamela Satterwhite,

Berkeley



Officer will be missed

Dear Editor: For the past 15 years in south Berkeley, Officer Jim Marangoni has been what works best about the Berkeley Police Department. He's now stepping down as lead beat officer of Beat 12, and we can't let the moment pass without recognizing what an enormous and positive effect he has had on our neighborhood.

Jim is the definition of community policing. He knows everyone - law abiders, lawbreakers and the big sliding scale in between. He has always been willing to explain as much as he legally could in a patient, clear, never-condescending way. Even when he was filling us in on the drug dealing and assaults that are still-too-common features of life in this corner of the city, hearing his straight, unvarnished talk about it was always comforting. When you're facing a scary situation, it's incomparably scarier if you don't have accurate information you can trust, and we knew Jim would always give us that.

Knowing that we had a solid link to the police department and the city made it possible for us to do our part in addressing the crime scene: Suing the drug dealers, working with the District Attorney's Office and lobbying our elected officials.

Here's my take-home lesson: Community policy requires commitment at the top to back up the officers who back up the folks on their beat. While he hasn't always had that backing, Jim has shown it's worth the effort. I wish we had more like him.

Paul Rauber, Berkeley,

For the ROC Neighborhood Association, and the South Berkeley Crime

Prevention Council