Crime prevention, neighborhood watch focus of Ogdensburg Police Department's community meeting

Oct. 26—OGDENSBURG — At a community meeting Wednesday evening, members of the Ogdensburg Police Department discussed the issues that have led to an increase in crime, the creation of a neighborhood watch program and what residents can do to help prevent crime.

Police Chief Mark Kearns, Lt. Jarret LeClair, Detective Jason Streeter and Sgt. Danielle Pryce led the discussion at the forum that was held at City Hall with roughly 175 in attendance and another 175 watching online. The meeting ended with a question-and-answer session.

"That just goes to show how much our community cares about making a difference here in Ogdensburg and that's the goal here tonight," Kearns said of the attendance. "Our focus is with all of you in this room, we can come up with some different solutions to make this community safer for all of us once again cause it's not the same Ogdensburg it was just a few years ago. I think we have all noticed that change."

LeClair, an Ogdensburg native, said that he joined the police department to make a difference in the community. Over the past decade, he says that an "aggressive cancer has taken over."

"I know all of you here are as frustrated as I am, and I can speak on behalf of all of the officers that I work with that they are just as frustrated," LeClair said.

ISSUES TO INCREASED CRIME

Kearns point to three issues that have increased crime in Ogdensburg — lack of staffing, homelessness and drug trends.

In 2020, the department had 28 officers and four dispatchers. In 2021, numbers decreased to 23 officers and three dispatchers and the following year staffing took another hit to 18 officers and two dispatchers.

Currently, the department is budgeted for 19 officers and zero dispatchers. That means an officer had to be delegated to dispatch duty and the Investigations Unit was dissolved, according to Kearns, with one detective on the streets.

Typically on a day and nights, OPD has a sergeant and a patrolman on the streets. Sometimes there is a third, but that can vary with vacation and sick time and other duties, Kearns said.

"With the current budget situation in the city of Ogdensburg, that will be our staffing for 2024, but the budget is still ongoing," the chief said.

Drug trends have also played a major part and ties in with the homelessness issue, according to Kearns, with fentanyl "taking a huge hold of the United States of America."

"And Ogdensburg is not a stranger to that," he added.

Marijuana, crystal meth and cocaine are being laced with fentanyl causing overdoses, he said.

"Fentanyl is cheap and it really becomes not a choice for these subjects that are using this drug. That is all that they live for because they don't have a choice when they start using this highly addictive drug," Kearns said.

Another cheap illegal drug is crystal meth.

The manufacturing of meth and subsequent raids on those establishments have created homelessness in Ogdensburg, according to Kearns, because anyone convicted of that charge loses government housing assistance.

"So that has caused a huge part of the homelessness here in the north country," he said. "It's a double-edged sword. You don't have meth labs anymore but we have a whole bunch of homeless people because of that."

LeClair pointed to another aspect affecting the community. He said that bail reform laws have put "career criminals on the street."

"I know their intentions were good, but it seems to have backfired," LeClair said. He pointed to new mandates that require up to four hours of paperwork and processing on a petit larceny charge, which used to take 45 minutes. That also has to be submitted within 15 days.

"These individuals are released and the officers are back at the station trying to get their mandated paperwork done within 15 days and those individuals they don't care because they know nothing is happening to them. So as soon as they walk back out that door, they are breaking into people's cars. It's what we are dealing with," the lieutenant said.

Police are so bogged down with paperwork that they are unable to get out and slow down speeders and other offenders.

BE VIGILANT, NOT VIGILANTES

LeClair said that residents can do their part by just paying more attention to the neighborhood in which they live and to call city police if you see suspicious activity.

However, they should not take matters into their own hands.

Kearns pointed to a Facebook site that was promoting such activity.

"Just the other night, they chased a male in a vehicle pursuit across the city that did not commit a single crime. No one called the police. Someone called in what they thought was suspicious to this group. They chose to chase this person, in a pursuit across the city in personal vehicles with children in the car. They're putting all of you in danger and those kids in danger, more so than any criminal has committed. In fact, there was no crime committed. This is not going to be tolerated," Kearns said.

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

To begin with, a neighborhood watch program will be developed with three sectors that coincide with the three patrol sectors used by city police.

Sgt. Pryce collected a list of those people interested in developing such a program in the Ogdensburg community.

Letters will be sent to those people seeking more information.

Meetings will then be set up for each sector, with Sgt. Pryce helping out in that first meeting organizing goals.

At those meetings, city police will talk to members about suspicious activity, what they should be looking for and what information police will need when they call it in.

CRIME PREVENTION

Sgt. Pryce said that the best preventive measure to avoid petty crimes is to lock your doors.

Make sure your valuables are inside and not in your vehicle and to make sure you vehicle is locked.

If you do see something suspicious, then call police, the sergeant said.

"Get to know you neighbors, build a rapport," she said. "If you do see something, obviously call us. We don't recommend you approaching someone physically. We don't want a confrontation with someone you don't know. You don't know what they are capable of."