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Resident urges council to make public safety a standing agenda item after burglaries
Summary
A long-time Westfield resident described recent burglaries and urged the council to add public safety to a future agenda for discussion of potential responses, including cameras and task-force options; council members said safety is discussed regularly in committee and that some methods cannot be publicly detailed.
Robert Parker, a Westfield resident since 1982, told the council that two burglaries on Coleman Avenue in the past 10 days have left neighbors feeling unsafe and urged the council to place public safety on a future agenda for community discussion and possible action.
"People have started exchanging emails...and everybody feels pretty helpless," Parker said, asking whether the council could consider a task force or other measures to address residential burglaries.
Mayor Jeremy Berman and council members acknowledged the concern, said the town treats the incidents seriously and noted the public-safety committee meets regularly about similar issues. A council member said the committee has installed a number of cameras and that "a lot of behind-the-scenes work" is ongoing, adding that some operational details cannot be shared publicly for security reasons.
Council members urged neighbors to look out for one another and to report suspicious activity; the mayor encouraged residents to call 911 for emergencies. The council did not schedule a specific new agenda item at this meeting but indicated public safety is an ongoing committee priority and that options continue to be discussed.
The council did not take formal policy action on this item during the meeting.
