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Neighborhood Watch Program in Cold Spring Coming Soon
Smoke testing of water system finds no clues to periodic increased discharges
by Kevin Foley
Burglaries, or any crime for that matter, can only be prevented or solved when the merchants and residents of a community are vigilant and work in cooperation with the police. This was the consensus that emerged from a one-hour workshop meeting of the Cold Spring Village Board of Trustees on Tuesday, September 25, 2007. An audience of over thirty people, anxious over a spate of burglaries in and around the Village, questioned and made suggestions to officials, in particular, Darrell Burris, the commanding officer of the Cold Spring Police Department.
Mayor Anthony Phillips opened the discussion of the "disturbing burglary problem" declaring, "it is just as disturbing that residents don't seem to have the confidence or don't feel it is their responsibility to inform the police department about things. We can't function as a village if all of us don't get together. We need to do better," said the Mayor who then turned the meeting over to Officer Burris.
Burris began by declining "to disclose any more information about any open investigation." He reiterated a previous statement that a joint team of his department and the Putnam County Bureau of Criminal Investigation was investigating the burglaries.
Echoing the Mayor, Burris said, "We need people to call the police. We need the information and ideas people have. If you hear or see something, let us determine the nature of the situation. That's what we're here for." Burris emphasized that people who called the police don't have to get involved with any incident, they could simply tell the telephone dispatcher they don't wish to be interviewed.
Burris also pointed out that too often burglary crime victims wait several hours or even days to report an incident. "Then they contaminate the crime scene, walking through it moving things around," he said. He urged people to call immediately and to stay out of the crime area.
Burris said he would soon launch an effort to create a formal Neighborhood Watch program based on the national program's model. He said it would involve citizens committing to spend time patrolling the streets in pairs acting as eyes and ears for the police. He emphasized that communicating with the police would be the prime function of such an effort, and not any actions on the part of citizens. Mayor Phillips said such a program could also possibly address the problem of unauthorized building renovations, which had been the subject of a meeting the week before.
Burris explained that he is the only full-time officer for the Village, supervising 14 part-time officers providing around the clock coverage. He said there was always one officer on duty and often there were two. While he declined to offer specific details about the assignment schedule, Burris did offer insight into police operations in response to several pressing questions and concerns from the audience and the Trustees.
He said his officers do not patrol Nelsonville and only respond there when the Sheriff requires back up, which he said was reciprocal. He said his officers sometimes walked the streets of the Village especially during evening and nighttime hours and that they also checked door locks on businesses on a random basis. He said that since the burglaries began, overnight officers were checking the many dark, hidden places in the rear of Main Street businesses more frequently. Burris cautioned people eager for officers to be on foot more often that they then would be slower to respond to actual situations requiring their presence
Trustee Seth Gallagher called for a greater effort to alert the Village by possibly sending a flyer to every residence, which several other people seconded. Burris said businesses owners could also sign up for the Putnam County Sheriff's Merchant Alert to receive e-mails about crime threats. He said he also intended to work more closely with the PCN&R to have regular reports about newsworthy police and criminal activities.
Depot Restaurant owner Tom Rolston brought the meeting back to the issue of citizen cooperation when he said that the burglar of his establishment had kicked out a large windowpane at the front of his Ice Cream Parlor when exiting. "It is my understanding three people heard the glass breaking but no one called, he said disappointedly.
Although anxious audience members peppered him with questions and suggestions for sometimes contradictory solutions throughout the meeting, all in attendance applauded Burris when one of the business people thanked him and his officers for their dedication and hard work.
Two ideas from audience members, one to declare a curfew to curb youths congregating late at night or another to require landlords to check the legal status of renters were rejected by officials as raising more practical and legal problems than they might be worth.
In other business, Greg Phillips, the Village Water and Sewer Superintendent, updated the Trustees on an ongoing testing project to determine the cause of periodic excess water flow during storm run-off. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has cited the Village for noncompliance with regulations governing the water quality released into the river at these times. Phillips said this happened an average of three times a year when too much storm water flowed into the Village water treatment plant. So far the results of smoke testing in the storm sewer system had not revealed a source of the water, although Phillips said there was little evidence it came from any residences. He said work would continue to find the answer.
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