Sunday, September 21, 2008

Sept 20 2008 Meeting.

The September 2008 meeting of the Santa Barbara SAR was held at the Madaam Lu Restaurant at 3524 State Street, Santa Barbara. The meeting was attended by 20 members and friends of the SAR. The meeting began with lunch and social time at 12:00. The meeting was called to order by President Ron Zell at 12:40. Opening ceremonies were followed by introduction of members and guests. The speaker for the day was Lieutenant David K. Whitham of the Santa Barbara Police Department. Lt. Whitham is a son of Lt. Col. Keith Whitham, a long time member of the S.B. Chapter of the SAR, who headed the S.B. JROTC program at S.B. and San Marcos High Schools for many years, and later was a member of the UCSB ROTC Staff.

Lt. Whitham discussed some of the history of the S.B. Police Department, and of his history with the Department. He then talked about some of the training and qualifications required of police officers in Santa Barbara, as well as some of the duties and operational aspects of the Police Department in the city. Lt. Whitham concluded with a discussion of central issues concerning the Police Department in Santa Barbara at the present time. Three of these issues deal with meeting and dealing with problems of gangs and gang violence within the city, indigent and homeless populations, and traffic problems within the city. The talk was concluded with time for questions and discussion.

The meeting was concluded with announcements and a final ceremony and adjourned at 1:40.

The next meeting of the Santa Barbara SAR will be at Andersens Restaurant, 376 Avenue of the Flags in Buellton on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 11:00 to 12:30. A speaker from Vandenburg Air Force Base will have a presentation at that time. Visitors and friends are welcome.