[Massachusetts-NFB] IMPORTANT UPDATE: Police cadets for travel for Central Square Senior Center meeting

[Justin Heard]

Good morning Helen.

My name is Justin Heard, current Cambridge Chapter President. Thank you 
for your concerns for our safety. Unfortunately, I have not had many 
interactions with you, but I look forward to changing that in the 
future. It sounds like you have a strong desire to serve the chapter and 
help us build the organized blind movement.

I am here to remind everyone of proper protocols when enacting chapter 
business. These protocols may feel like burdensome bureaucratic 
nonsense. However, they exist to ensure that the NFB of Cambridge 
maintains a solid reputation, and they also keep our actions orderly and 
precise.

Anyone is welcome, and urged, to bring concerns to any of the currently 
serving board members, now or in the future. The board member, after 
acknowledging the concern, can either act if he or she determines it is 
a crisis, or s/he may bring the concern to the rest of the board 
members. This does not have to involve a formal board meeting. The board 
may then determine an appropriate response. Responses may include, but 
are not limited to: acting immediately due to the urgency of the 
situation, dismissing the concern, or calling an emergency chapter 
meeting to discuss how to proceed. Of course,

Any communication with outside entities should be done through an 
elected board member, or a committee member as appointed by the 
President. This ensures that we maintain an official response, and that 
the will of all chapter members is most democratically represented. As 
chapter members, we elect our officers for exactly this purpose. It is a 
sign of trust and confidence that they will respond to our needs in an 
appropriate way. For the same reason, our affiliate president, or the 
president of the National Federation of the Blind, can of course act and 
speak for the Cambridge chapter if needed, and because they have 
authority over the Cambridge chapter, they have certain other privileges.

I cannot emphasize enough that I appreciate your concern, Helen. I 
welcome your enthusiasm for keeping us safe. I, like you, want all our 
members to feel comfortable traveling to and from our in-person events. 
I did not realize that Central Square has become less safe since chapter 
meetings were held there. However, I want to maintain our proper 
protocols so that we do not descend into chaos. This is not a rebuke. I 
am sure that you were unaware of how to proceed. This is not a public 
condemnation. Rather, I did not realize that these protocols had not 
been discussed. This situation provides a perfect opportunity for the 
instruction of every chapter member, and serves as a reminder for those 
of us who may have forgotten.

Once again, I thank you for your love of the chapter. I hope to work 
with you more in the future. Please keep us updated with more 
information from the Cambridge police.

With love, hope, and determination,

Justin Heard



On 11/7/2022 9:29 AM, Helen Kobek via Massachusetts-NFB wrote:
> Hi, folks,
> I've heard back from Community Relations Police. They have run this 
> quickly up the flagpole to the Commissioner and the following is in 
> process, to be confirmed:
> Two uniformed Police cadets (unarmed, unbadged) will be positioned at 
> 5:30 pm, as follows: One in front of Starbucks, and one in front of 
> CVS. The Starbucks group will cross the street and pick up the group 
> in front of CVS, and head down at 5:40 to the Senior Center. The 
> cadets will go back to the T meeting locations, sweeping to see if 
> there are late-comers who might wish escort. At 7:45pm the same cadets 
> will meet the group, escort back to the T stops, in reverse order, and 
> go to both stations. I will have the names of the cadets to post here 
> before the meeting, and we are just asked to let the police know of 
> cancellations for any reason.
>
> I wish to be clear that I don't assume everyone will want to make use 
> of it. I also want to be clear that this option - if it's available - 
> is not to be degrading of anyone's blindness. The option can be 
> discussed by the chapter if you feel led next week. (I felt an urgency 
> on this until I realized it's not until next week, so there's some 
> space to range this.) If NFB decides not to have this option, that's 
> fine, too. I know that NFB has a strong sense of independence.
>
> If anyone is annoyed with me for being protective, that's fine. LOL.
>
> I will confirm here when it's a done deal, but, given how quickly it 
> was run up to the Commissioner, I trust it's done. They will have a 
> meeting to visit all of this this afternoon. I'm grateful to the 
> police for being so quick and respectful.
>
> Kindest regards, yours in blindness (smiling)
> Helen
>
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