After I finished my writing for the day I hopped on the Surly, still shiny and new from the shoppe, and headed out to do a final ride of the route for this Saturday’s Bicycle Second Line with the Metro Bicycle Coalition. Streets change fast around here, so I wanted to do a last run, taking note of any road construction or serious potholes. Other than the usual off-roading on Freret and that sinkhole developing at Melpomene and St. Charles, the streets are decent and the parade is ready to roll. After a quick lunch I headed back to the Sixth District police station for their first open COMSTAT meeting; I am, as always, curious. The first thing I noticed was a lack of bike racks at the station. I rode up, and so did another bike, and there was nowhere for us to go. Then I sat in on the meeting, listening as they talked both like we (the public) were the only ones there and not there at all. There was quite a bit of talk about how crime stats aren’t fair, how there’s nothing cops can do about violence that happens inside homes, so we can’t blame them, really, for those numbers. Policing, crime, safety–these are loaded questions. Me, I think we’re policed more than enough, and the police often, as Mertilla Jones so heartbreakingly made clear today, cannot be trusted. I left the meeting bored, but thinking in this case, the boredom might have been protection, because I wasn’t sure I could think about that complexity right then. I left, unlocked my bike, and spun around the corner to O.C. Haley, where I snapped a picture of this community garden, through the fence. Thank you, Parkway Partners. Thanks.