UPDATED: ERPD Postpones Community Meeting over Coronavirus Concerns

On Thursday, East Ridge Police Chief Stan Allen released a memo saying that the “community meeting” scheduled for March 19 has been postponed due to concerns over the coronavirus. It will be rescheduled at a later date.

The East Ridge Police Department will hold a community meeting on March 19 and is inviting all residents and business owners, Chief Stan Allen said in a press release on Friday.

The meeting is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. at the community center on Tombras Avenue next to City Hall.

“There have been a lot of change at the police department since the beginning of the year, and this is a chance for us to get to know you better as well as a chance for you to get to know us better,” Chief Allen stated.

“We will introduce some planned upcoming initiatives and we would welcome your input as to where you would like to see us improve,” he stated. “Our mission is to create a safer East Ridge for our citizens and visitors by reducing crime, preserving the peace, and protecting lives and property. We will be asking for your ideas on how we get there together.”

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.