Police attended community meetings in the past, Williams says, but "often, a very limited amount of time was dedicated to interaction with police representatives."

At the CPD-sponsored community meetings, sergeants in charge of the respective neighborhood attend and interact with those they're sworn to protect.

"When a resident of one of those neighborhoods tells an officer who works that area about a problem, they [already] know about it," Williams says.

Learning from the Locals

Sgt. Jim Synnott, a 30-year CPD veteran with a distinctive New England accent and a kindly demeanor, addressed the five Cantabrigians who attended a Dec. 12 community meeting at the Tobin School.

Speaking animatedly and pacing in the front of the room, Synnott eschewed the political science rhetoric of community policing and talked tough and simple, at times imploring the crowd to help police officers perform their jobs effectively.

"The new partnership is getting people to share the burden," Synnott said, raising the tone of his voice.

"What we need to do is sit down, put our heads together and come up with solutions," he said.

Eighteen Cantabrigians met with CPD representatives at another community meeting at the Agassiz School in West Cambridge to do just that the night before the community meeting at the Tobin School.

A longtime Cambridge resident present at the meeting expressed his frustration with the fact that juveniles have repeatedly broken into his cars which he keeps parked in the driveway of his home.

The man suggested that immediately after apprehending young offenders for such crimes, police officers should drive the offenders to their homes and tell their parents what their children have been doing.

Several residents also complained about people breaking Cambridge's biking laws by riding their bicycles on city sidewalks.

The residents said many of the offenders appeared to be college students.

A CPD officer on the panel responded that 10,000 brochures had been sent to colleges detailing the "do's and don'ts" of Cambridge biking laws which require bicycle riders to obey the same laws as motor vehicle operators.

A police official admitted that college students are "a very rule-resistant population."