I’m all for parents doing a better job at raising their kids. I have a real problem with the way kids today think that the streets are their playground as my tax dollars go to support the real deal. I even took my frustrations out in a post about one little bastard and his siblings after he decided that getting killed by my car wasn’t a possibility. That said, I’m not quite so sure that the city and its departments should be concerning themselves with how parents choose to raise their children.
Yesterday as I was scrolling through my Twitter feed I saw a message posted by Suzi109 which read:
City of Burnsville just emailed a press release reminding all of us to look both ways when crossing the street. WTF, Burnsville?
I meant to ask her to send me the press release but forgot all about it until a long-time reader sent me an e-mail that said, “As a longtime Lazy Lightening (sic) reader, I thought you’d enjoy this insightful piece from the Burnsville Police. It was sent to all neighborhood block captains. Happy reading!” This kind soul attached a PDF copy of the release which I have placed here for your reading pleasure.
For those of you that may not want to read the entire thing, just the title should get you a clear idea of what the rest of the content is like:
REMEMBER TO LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING THE STREET: Burnsville Police Ask Parents to Talk with Their Kids About Traffic Safety
Perhaps this is the Burnsville PD’s way of increasing safety while the threat of budget cuts to their department sits on the horizon?
What do you think of the press release? Should Burnsville’s PD be concerning themselves with how parents raise their kids? Was there a better way that this information could have been distributed to parents? What do you think about the PD’s response to it all? Whatever it is, go ahead and let us know what you think.
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April 22nd, 2009 at 7:50 am
I have a couple of thoughts:
1. I’m glad to see them trying to use a new source to communicate with people (e-mail). It’s a cheap yet effective way to get out a message, and it’s nice to see them embrace new technology.
2. I don’t mind them sending out a reminder like this. What’s the harm in having the police (aka Public Safety) remind people, especially as we get into Spring and kids are outside again, that they should stop, look, and listen before jumping out into the road. I remember the kid that got struck and killed in Apple Valley a few years back, on 145th near Hayes Road. He just walked right out into the road and got killed. Yes, the driver should have seen him and stopped, but in the battle between a 2,500 pound car and a 140 pond kid, the car is always going to win. I am amazed at how many times I see someone cross at an intersection without looking. Right or wrong, they’re going to be dead. If they just stop and take a look, they may save their own life.
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:00 am
Greg,
Great point about the usage of e-mail! Apple Valley sends out a newsletter, in paper format, to 21,250 people at a cost of nearly $15,000 a pop. For a city that prides itself in being “green”, I have a real problem with the use of paper and mail distribution methods (trees and fossil fuels) when e-mail or RSS would be a much better method.
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:20 am
I have to agree with Greg, I don’t really see the harm. Every fall when the school year starts, we as adults are reminded to look out for children.
I think it’s a good message, and perhaps the fault lies with those who need a reminder to tell their children to be careful outside rather than the public safety departments sending out a cheap, easy, friendly reminder. If parents would parent, would it be an issue?
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:27 am
If even one child is spared a trip to the emergency room because of this, it was worth it. I was the pall bearer at a childs funeral who was killed in a traffic accident. His father is a good friend of mine. I dont care if they send this out everyday for the next decade. Dont understimate how bad some people drive and/or how reckless children are.
I think the job of our police is still to Protect and Serve, and as such, I think this is great use of time and technology. Personally I think lots of adults could learn something from this as well. And I can say that the only thing I have called the Burnsville Police about in the 4 years I have lived here is children in our neighborhood playing in the street and REFUSING to move for traffic.
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:43 am
Should we expect a press release from Burnsville’s finest telling our kids (and adults) not to buy cocaine from drug dealers that reside in the Heart of the City and in the event they hear gunfire to hit the ground?
Maybe attach a .wav file to the email so we can play it for our children so they can recognize the sound of gun fire and lay down on the ground or find immediate shelter when they hear gun shots if playing in the water fountain in the Heart of the City – Nicollet Commons Park this summer?
I wonder if Dan Gustafson still thinks that Nicollet Commons Park is safer than Crystal Lake Beach Park after yesterdays incident of a large cocaine bust and shots fired near Nicollet Avenue and Travelers Trail in the Heart of the City.
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:58 am
Posts 1-4 above capture my thoughts fairly well. Now, I have to find out who my “block captain” is and ask where our communication went! (ha ha)
I’d actually be interested in seeing a series of memos like this for kids and adults alike. Safe bicycling, reinforcement of the policy to call 911 for emergencies AND non-emergencies, what to do in a home fire, dealing with strangers, reminders about some codes (RV/trailer/no on-street overnight parking, etc), how to oust an indifferent/arrogant city official, instructions on how to book an event in a performing arts center….
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:00 am
The whole “Block Captain” thing is interesting to me. Anyone know what they are and how they are selected?
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:15 am
I’d like to know too and I’m too lazy to go to the BV web site to see if it’s there. I wonder if they are the same people that spearhead our Neighborhood Night Out. We have a pretty good event/turnout for that every year.
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:17 am
I should have looked there I suppose. A simple Google query came up with this: http://www.ci.burnsville.mn.us/DocumentView.asp?DID=830
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:31 am
Just a reminder that I do not approve comments where fake e-mail addresses (or e-mail addresses from throw away services like mailinator) are used.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:48 am
It’s not that the “look left, then right, then left” message isn’t valid. But so are “stranger danger” and “stop, drop, and roll.” Why not target general child-safety messages to elementary schools, day care centers, youth activity providers, and the like?
Why a crossing-the-street message was disseminated via multiple channels instead of notice about a drug-related shooting the same night I couldn’t fathom. I had to learn about THE REAL NEWS from KARE.
April 22nd, 2009 at 1:28 pm
I’m not a block captain, and if our block has one, I don’t have any idea who it is. I just signed up to be on the city’s email list (I guess? Don’t really remember how I started getting the emails). I found the Look Both Ways email stupid and condescending, but it didn’t change my life or ruin my day. If the city wants to believe that telling parents to teach their kids about safety is actually going to make them do it, they’re mistaken, but I don’t care. I can click delete without even raising my blood pressure. I do appreciate other email communications from the city, actually. I would have really appreciated one telling me about the criminally insane individual who escaped from his group at Burnsville Center a few weeks ago. It would be nice to have a description, or even a photo. THAT would have been a productive use of the email system.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
I pretty much agree with everyone who said that they see nothing wrong with the message. I suspect that most “good” parents teach their children the right way to cross the street anyway.
Maybe it’s just me (well, maybe Bill too) but I suspect this all has something to do with queen bee Mayor Kautz losing her stop light at 126th and Nicollet. Now she wants the word out about how dangerous crossing the streets of Burnsville is, so she has an excuse to try and put her stop light back on the table.
And is it just a coincidence that the city’s biggest cheerleader, John Gessner of This Week Newspapers had an article posted online yesterday, April 21st talking about the same subject with more in depth info about the two specific incidents.
It all seems to be a bit contrived to me!
Has anybody seen any information about the relationship between the man from Eagan and the two people he stabbed in Burnsville? My opinions on the crossing the street stories comes from the fact that we’ve heard that the people involved in the stabbing had some sort of relationship but I haven’t seen anything yet telling us what that relationship was. Was it another drug related thing maybe?
Burnsville definitely knows how to get the story out on things they want out but sure knows how to hold back the things they don’t want out. Like when is someone going to write about citizen opposition to proposed cuts in Police and Fire? When are they going to write about how the PAC is really doing against budget? When are they going to write about the real losses of the PAC and the real possibility of it losing more (possibly much more) than was budgeted for?
Sorry for the rant but I feel like it’s people like John Gessner who are suppose to ask the tough questions and write real news stories who actually do the city’s dirty work and do the citizens of Burnsville a disservice at the same time.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Here is my two cents, but first I want to specifically address Chad and his comment #4. I’m about to make a sweeping generalization and I want to let you know I am in no way diminishing your friend and the loss of that friend’s child.
The issue of communicating traffic safety to children is a good idea and should probably be done at least a couple times a year. Like Suzi said, you can delete it and get on with your day if you don’t care to dwell on the topic. However, my generalization is that usually the kids/parents that need this information the most are the parents too busy to read it because they’re out plastering their “My Kid is an Honor Student” stickers on their mini-van. They are so busy announcing how awesome ‘Junior’ is they fail to realize “hey, my kid is an asshole that doesn’t move out of the street when a car drives by.”
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Mrs Marcos, I agree with you. I just have seen a few things happen that really make me realize that life can change dramatically, often for the worse, in the blink of an eye, and any type of communication like this that makes one person step back and think is worthwhile. I am a sorta new parent (I have a 2 year old) I try to be a great parent, and I think I would have taught my kid how to cross the street without direction from the cops.
However I just cant imagine what kind of parent I would have been if my son had been born when I was 18 or 19 or 20. I looked at life much differntly, and I am pretty sure that gentle reminders like this may have helped me along the path to being a decent parent. And if not, then I would have deleted it.
I think the whole block captain thing sounds like a great idea, however I would have to echo previous comments. I dont have any idea who my block captain is, and I am pretty sure my neighbors dont either.
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:23 pm
I don’t see any problem with sending out an email notice to remind all us citizens of Burnsville that we should, in fact, look left and right prior to crossing the street. I’m not annoyed or anything by it. It sure brought me a good laugh when I got it in my inbox.
It’s the fact that this is what they decided to do with their precious resources. (In a time of budget cuts and stoplight crises) This is how they’re spending their time and money?
I agree with Mrs. Marcos. The people who would benefit from this email won’t recieve it or read it. So, I wonder what the point really is?
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:24 pm
KJ,
DING DING DING DING! WE HAVE A WINNER!
I saw the same article from Gessner but after the fact. As soon as I saw the tweet yesterday from Suzi I knew that this is exactly what Kautz was doing. It’s amazing to me what that woman (and her minions) will do to get their way. What better way to get people on her side than to send out a scary notation to the public via the local paper and e-mail. This is grassroots, underground, word-of-mouth scaremongering at its finest.
Congrats Kautz, you have proven that you are a bigger puppeteer than I would have ever given you credit for.
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:55 pm
But this isn’t scary, this is common sense, she only thinks its scary becaue she doesn’t have any.
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:56 pm
^s
April 22nd, 2009 at 6:41 pm
I remember a trip I took to Milwaukee back in…2000, I think, where they were running PSAs on TV about being nice to people and saying “thank you,” along with billboards reminding people to wash their hands. It was a little odd.
April 22nd, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Thought Leader……. NOT much media reporting on the GUN FIRE in the HEART OF THE CITY…… only short blurb in the PP and NOTHING in the Strib….. Maybe the Burnsville Police could get Dakota County to organize a neighborhood watch group in the Heart of the City CDA housing….. think I’ll do my shopping over at the Eagan Cub from now on.
April 22nd, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Interesting… I see value in the city using e-mail to point out safety items. While they seem silly, and common sense, it’s shocking how few people actually have common sense, or understand their responsibility for their own safety. The main downside though is if they start to believe this is how they can get information to all their citizens. not everyone has e-mail, and assuming they do is simply foolish.
With that in mind, the best situation a city would use is what many corporations do these days. On whatever document it is you receive just give a subscription e-mail address people can email to that tells the city to just send you stuff in e-mail, and skip the mailing to your address. Have that keyed into the utilities or services so that if that changes, you reset the flag. Shouldn’t be too difficult.
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Will,
Maybe John Gessner will step up and write about the shootout at the E.K. Corral. Yeah … that’s totally it!
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:22 am
KJ: BINGO! The really sad/sick part is that she is just waiting for some parent or child to make that wrong choice to cross Nicollet at that point and get hurt, so that she can have her “I told you so” moment. Instead of, of course, focusing on the fact that there are TWO stoplights RIGHT THERE where all one has to do is push a button and wait and voila! traffic stops. Why isn’t she putting out a press release about that? Just close down that unmarked intersection all together/take out the crosswalk. Put a sign up telling people NOT to cross there (while the City is in the process of pointing out safety tips to people, after all). Then ticket people who do. Problem solved.
If she’s REALLY concerned about pedestrian safety everywhere in the city (and not just in HOC), park a cop by Byerlys and the Woods apartments at CR 42 and Portland (and anywhere else in the city where people can also point out that people aren’t crossing legally/safely) and start ticketing people who cross mid block instead of walking 1/2 block to the light. Show that more than just HOC matters.
She makes comments in public about people wanting drive-thrus because they don’t want to get out of their cars for a donut (http://www.lazylightning.org/?s=dunkin), intimating that people are lazy, but she doesn’t use the same tone to point out that people don’t want to walk 1/2 block to a traffic light to cross the street?
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Great comments Whit
April 27th, 2009 at 9:20 am
I had an encounter with one of Burnsville’s finest recently (no, I was not breaking the law, btw). It seems like the officers are busy on emergencies (in stressful economic times, thefts and domestic violence calls substantially increase) and it seems that basic patrol/enforcement/prevention duties suffer for lack of visibility of officers. While our officers are busy “putting out fires,” our neighborhoods suffer. No one wants to call and complain about wanting increased traffic patrols in their neighborhood for prevention purposes, when they know the officers are needed across town because some guy is beating his wife. Then we hear that “crime is down” statistics because if no one is caught for the theft, etc., maybe it doesn’t get included in the stats? At the same time though, I would bet the incidence of theft and domestic “calls” is up, which means officer time spent on these calls is also “up.” With no corresponding increase in the number of officers, time available to spend on the basics has to be down. I’d love to hear from an officer or two about what the best route citizens can take to get them what they need without increasing their stress level more than it already is.