The Martha’s Vineyard Neighborhood Convention was founded on Nov. 13, 1894, as a “neighborly meeting” in response to interdenominational hostilities among the Island’s churches. This Island tradition of peacemaking continues 126 years later, with a mission to nurture care, connection, and collaboration among Islanders. The convention meets in a different location on the first Tuesday of each month between October and June. Host ministers offer a short service and program of interest, followed by beverages and desserts. Participants are encouraged to bring friends and a bag lunch.
The Nov. 1 meeting was hosted by the Federated Church in Edgartown. The Rev. Sharon Eckhardt led the worship service. The program “On Duty on the Vineyard” was presented by Edgartown Chief of Police Bruce McNamee.
McNamee spoke about how proud he is of the officers and the Island community. He noted how troubled he is by the lack of housing. “Island-wide, we are down six officers. We lost an officer, and the schools lost a special education teacher. We need to figure this out.”
He said, “The defund-the-police attitude has had an effect on our morale. We are losing officers, and having a hard time attracting new recruits. Normally there would be many applicants, but so far I’ve only received one. And the summer traffic positions are hard to fill everywhere.” Towns lend officers back and forth as needed. During the Fourth of July this year, he got assists from other towns, but it was 10 fewer officers than prior years.
McNamee heads the Martha’s Vineyard Chiefs of Police Association. Towns have different policing styles, and the Neighborhood Convention has been a way for departments to coordinate. After George Floyd’s murder, about 70 Island officers completed implicit bias training, paid for by donations to the convention.
An audience member said he’d completed active-shooter training, and wondered if we should be doing more. McNamee replied, “You are right to be concerned. The No. 1 targets are places of work, and the No. 2 are houses of worship.” Parishioners mentioned their appreciation seeing the cruisers go by during services.
The chief said that rising intolerance and an increase in white supremacy demonstrations off-Island are a call for increased vigilance. He was proud of how the Island responded to the Venezuelan migrants, and is advising a department in Kingston in Plymouth about what worked.
What makes up most emergency calls? Besides false alarms and hang-up calls, most involve alcohol and domestic situations. McNamee said there is a lot of alcohol abuse on the Island, and he wonders if the exposure to partying vacationers contributes to the high rate of alcohol abuse involving our young people.
In response to a question about whether we should continue to have a jail on the Island, McNamee was clear that he doesn’t want the police departments to be in the jail business, and have stations become lockups. He said we need the Sheriff’s Department. The jail provides lockups, and a safe place for some to sober up.
Another question was if we are down officers, will that impact police in the schools?
He replied “You can’t train compassion, and I’ve never seen anything like what we have in our school resource officers.”
Chief McNamee concluded with a story of an experience years ago when he was an off-Islander on vacation, visiting his mother-in-law’s home in Oak Bluffs. It involved an open gate, a ferry reservation, and three greyhound dogs. When his mother-in-law said she was going to call the Oak Bluffs Police, he said, “I was skeptical, but the cops came, and they really looked. They brought the dogs home, and yes, we made our boat. Careers are made of hills and valleys, and without a doubt, working with this community is the peak.”
The next meeting of the Neighborhood Convention will be Dec. 6, and will be hosted by the United Methodist Church of Martha’s Vineyard and the Rev. Hyuk Seonwoo at Trinity Park in Oak Bluffs. It will include a performance by the Minnesingers and their director, Abigail Chandler.