Troy Meyers says he’s as liberal as it gets in Seattle, including on issues of police accountability. But one life-changing experience gave Meyers a deep appreciation for just how difficult and dangerous law enforcement can be.

In 1998 Meyers’s father was killed in the line of duty while working as a Kansas City police officer. The tragedy eventually led Meyers to the Seattle Police Foundation, where he’s volunteered for a number of years. Meyers is now preparing to combine those experiences with his years of neighborhood activism in Squire Park to lead a Central Area group that some members say is too often overlooked by the community it serves.

This month, Meyers took over as chair of the East Precinct Advisory Council — the community sounding board for public safety issues in the Central Area and official conduit between East Precinct neighborhoods and SPD. With one meeting as chair under his belt so far, Meyers said he’s particularly interested in addressing gang issues around the Central District.

“Almost all of the shootings we see are gang related,” he said. “I really just want to see an improvement in relationships between the police department and the community.”

“I didn’t want (EastPAC) to be a token citizen group”

Meyers told CHS he also wants EastPAC to be more involved in shaping SPD’s SeaStat crime analysis to help the department better deploy resources around the precinct. Part of that will include guiding SPD’s new “micro community policing” priorities, he said.

A more immediate goal will be getting the EastPAC website up and running again.

Meyers’ arrival marks the end of an era for EastPAC, where Stephanie Tschida has been at the helm of the group for the better part of 20 years. “It’s kind of like you build something up and you hate to let it go,” she said.

Tschida originally came to to EastPAC by way of her own personal experience with police. In the early 1990s, Tschida was working with Central District teens to organize public art projects. On multiple occasions, Tschida said she witnessed police drive up on to playgrounds or stop the kids she was working with because officers thought the kids were tagging. Those experiences eventually led her to EastPAC.

Keeping consistent contacts at the East Precinct has proved difficult in recent years for neighborhood groups, as personnel shakeups have resulted in ten captain changes since 2000.

For Tschida, Pierre Davis was the ideal East Precicnt commander, with roots in the community and a sincere interest in reaching out to neighborhood groups. When Chief Kathleen O’Toole came into office last year, Tschida said she pleaded with the department to keep Davis on Capitol Hill. When he was transferred, Tschida said it was a demoralizing blow and precipitated her stepping down.

“I didn’t want (EastPAC) to be a token citizen group,” she said.

Tschida was the chair of EastPAC when it took on one of its most controversial issues, an effort to stop Mayor Mike McGinn’s pilot program to extend bar and club hours on Capitol Hill. Among Tschida’s proudest accomplishments while at EastPAC was organizing The Good Vibe —- a teen-focused concert the group produced and promoted at Dr. Blanche S. Lavizzo Park.

Meyers will have his hands full as he takes over EastPAC in the middle of the summer crime spike, which has already resulted in one Central District shooting death. Tschida said she’s confident in her replacement, and hopes residents will rise to meet the complicated challenges in the East Precinct. “I hope neighbors will start to have a presence in the areas they are complaining about,” she said.

The East Precinct Advisory Council meets the last Thursday of each month. For more details, visit the group’s Facebook page.