No, this isn't a call for a reinforced police presence downtown. This was apparently one of those unfortunate incidents that just exploded spontaneously. No pattern of such disturbances exists, and as embarrassing as it was to have this stupid situation make the national news, there's not much anyone could have done to have prevented it. But the skateboard riot did reveal a weakness in the process of notifying store owners when a break-in occurs at their stores. As reported by Allen Russell on page 21 of this week's paper, someone from the police department apparently called to alert him to the damage done to his store.
Trouble is, no one bothered to leave a message.
It's hard to understand why the police wouldn't leave a message. But it would be better if the downtown merchants got together and created some sort of network to alert members of the community in the event of an emergency. The merchants are going to be a lot more likely than the police to make sure their members are notified when trouble strikes. A communications committee composed of local merchants could quickly reach members via telephone and e-mail. Such a committee could even evolve into something of greater assistance to our downtown merchants.