by Rachel Hunter
Interest in the Gouverneur Community Watch group is growing in the local community.
The community watch program’s purpose is to create an alert neighborhood by using simple crime prevention methods. The program works through the mutual aid of neighbors watching the property of other neighbors and reporting suspicious activity to police. The monthly meetings are maintaining the interest of over 30 community members. Also there are representatives from the New York State Police, St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, and the Gouverneur Police Department. Local dignitaries who have expressed their support include Village of Gouverneur Mayor Ron McDougall, Village of Gouverneur Deputy Mayor Charles Newvine, Village of Gouverneur Trustee Floyd McAdam, Village of Gouverneur Trustee Troy Besaw, Village of Gouverneur Trustee Shelly Simons-Washburn, Town of Gouverneur Supervisor Dave Spilman, Jr., Town of Gouverneur Deputy Supervisor Jay Bowhall, Town of Fowler Supervisor Rick Newvine, among others.
The third meeting of the Gouverneur Community Watch Group was held on Oct. 16 at the Eldon B. Conklin Gouverneur Community Center. The 80-minute meeting provided updates, and answered community members’ questions and concerns with the support of local law enforcement.
The meeting was emceed by Village of Gouverneur Deputy Mayor Charles Newvine, who reported that work has already begun to establish crime reporting zones in Gouverneur. The zone committee met a couple of times in the past month to arrive at the following recommendation: Zone 1 (Jefferson, W. Babcock, W. Barney, Austin, Clinton, Mill, Vaile, Snow, Dexter, Pearl, Johnstown, Ethel, E. Babcock, Trinity, E. Main, Barnes), Zone 2 (E. Barney, Barnes, Howard, Trinity, E. Main, N. Gordon, Caroline, Rock Island, Gleason, Valley, Meadow, Dale, Birchwood, Waid, Rowley, Edith), Zone 3 (Grove, Dodge, S. Gordon, Sterling, Beckwith, Averell, Depot, Pooler, Dorwin, Spencer, Factory, Lincoln, Bullard, Scotch Settlement), and Zone 4 (Bellevue, Vista, Adelia, Smith, Wilson, Murdock, Washington, Preston, W. Main, Reid, Starbuck, Prospect, McKean, Helena, Eckman, Parker, Hailesboro, River, Graves, William, South, Water). The group used the Village of Gouverneur’s brush pick-up zones to determine the zone recommendation. The zones may be further developed as future input is given.
Deputy Mayor Newvine said the success of the Gouverneur Community Watch group depends on community participation. The Gouverneur Community Watch Group needs volunteers, who are interested in seeing change in the local community. The group is currently looking to tailor the program to the needs of the Gouverneur community. But it needs people who are willing to put their name on the dotted line and sign-up to help. Deputy Mayor Newvine said now is the time for the Gouverneur Community Watch group to get organized.
“Crime is in your backyard in this small little town,” Deputy Mayor Newvine said, and then asked those present: “Will you be willing to observe, document and report?” He highlighted the reporting excellence by Dale Cronk, Sr., a Village of Gouverneur resident. “Mr. Cronk is very well-documented. Where he lives is a very problematic area in the Village. He keeps it very well-documented with a portfolio of where, what, when and why and how it happened. If you are willing to do that, then that’s a great thing. I will tell you: You will have to sign something. You will have to put your name on a piece of paper. That criminal will know your name and your address. That is the truth. They have the right to know that. That process isn’t slow for them to get it… What is your commitment level to this as far as having a community watch and having your name and personal information out there. That is something you have to ask yourself. The truth is that people are going to know who you are, and that’s not a lot of fun.” Deputy Mayor Newvine encouraged all those interested in volunteering to have a point of contact card that lists all local law enforcement phone numbers, and the zone coverage schedule.
Deputy Mayor Newvine said there are no protections that exist for those involved in the Gouverneur Community Watch group. He told the crowd, “If someone breaks onto my property, and my father sees it and tries to do something about. He is going to get arrested for assault, and that criminal is going to get trespass. He doesn’t care. He is a criminal, and it just goes in his file. This working class gentleman is going to get assault, and he is going to pay a lawyer and go to court and it is going to cost him money. That’s why these guys say that the justice system is broken… Are you willing to patrol and observe? Are you willing to do that? Are you willing to patrol the streets at 2 o’clock in the morning till 4 o’clock in the morning. There’s no coverage here from the Village police department from 11 p.m. on. So, 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., 2 a.m. to 4 a.m., and 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. These criminals are working while we are sleeping. That’s the shifts we are talking about here. Is it going to happen in the day? Yes, crime happens during the day too. But a lot of it goes on at night. Are you willing to do that? That is something you need to ask yourself.”
Deputy Mayor Newvine then gave the crowd the good, the bad, and the ugly about crime in Gouverneur and the surrounding community. “The good news is that we are here. We have people involved here, and we are going forward with this. We are going to be proactive and not reactive to this. That is what we are trying to do. That is the good news. We are trying to do something,” he said.
“The bad news is that it is worse than you think. If you think it is bad out there, it is worse than you think. Very recently, I have gotten up early to drive through the Village with my dog. I check on Newvine’s Auto Parts and I cruise around by the car wash, and I go back through town. If you want to get up at 5 o’clock in the morning and check on what’s going on in this Village, please do. Driving through the Village during the day, it doesn’t get much better. So, it is worse than you think. There’s probably about 11 people sleeping underneath the bridge. (Town of Gouverneur Supervisor Dave Spilman, Jr.) runs into it at Riverview Park all the time. That is the bad news, and there’s not much help out there… for them or for us. The other thing is that it is going to get worse before it gets better. If you think it is bad now, it is going to get worse before it gets better.
“This is the ugly part. I am going to give you the truth with as much grace as possible. If you haven’t talked about home defense with your loved ones at your house, you are already behind the eight ball. I have had the discussion with my kids not too long ago. They know exactly what is going to happen at my house if somebody breaks in. They know exactly what they are going to do, where they are going to be, and what they are going to do when they get there until I come get them. I know what I am doing at my home. I know exactly what is going to happen at my home if somebody should break in. If you don’t have that conversation with your loved ones, you are already behind the eight ball. That is the truth with as much grace as I can muster.
“Are you going to be willing to patrol? Meaning, if you are going to take the 2-4 a.m. shift on Prospect Street, are you going to patrol? I’ll give you a sign. I’ll give you a hat. We’ll put something on your car. What if a criminal comes up to you? Do you have a taser? Do you have mace? Do you have a pistol? If you do, I hope it is concealed carry. If not, you have to be going to the range or from the range. And if you do have concealed carry, you have to be retreating with that firearm and it has to be your last line of defense. If it isn’t, you are going to jail. That is the truth. If you are on patrol and you are observing and reporting, and you get out of your car, and that criminal comes to you, are you going to go hands on? Because there are people who talk about fighting and there’s people that fight. Those criminals are the last one. That is the truth… If you haven’t talked about home defense with your family, you need to do that. The First Amendment says that you can say anything you want. The Second Amendment says you better have a gun if you are going to do it. That is just the truth. If you are going to try to observe and report, and somebody wants to go hands on… are you going to go hands on? That is something you have to ask yourself.”
Village of Gouverneur resident Judy Brown then asked: “Where are they all coming from?” Deputy Mayor Newvine responded, “There is a mental health crisis in this community, and we are seeing it. Gouverneur Hospital sees it. They go Thursday to get help… on Sunday, they sign themselves out until Monday. They cope until Thursday, and they do it all over again. And there’s nothing you can do. There’s people in such a mental health crisis that they don’t know what to do. There’s help out there, but they don’t want it.”
“Why is it happening more here?” asked Village of Gouverneur resident Miki Hopper. “Don’t think it is happening just here,” Deputy Mayor Newvine said. “It’s not. It’s Canton. It’s Ogdensburg. It’s Potsdam. It’s worse in other places. But you are going to see more foot traffic here.” Deputy Mayor Newvine reminded the crowd that citizens are to observe and report only, and to let the local law enforcement agencies handle the policing. “There cannot be vigilante justice,” Deputy Mayor Newvine said. “But we’ve got to try to take back our community. “Can we fix all of it? Probably not. We can’t fix Canton. We can’t fix Ogdensburg. We can’t fix Potsdam. We’re concerned about that, but we need to fix Gouverneur. It’s a small, little town that I grew up in, was fortunate to move away for four years to go to college, and came right back here to sell brake pads. You all have a vested interest in this town. If you didn’t have a vested interest, you wouldn’t be here. We’re not doing it for our own sake. I mean, we are. But we are doing it for the sake of our children, our grandchildren. It doesn’t look like it did when I was in high school. It doesn’t look like it did five years ago. Things have changed. The system is broken.”
The Gouverneur Community Watch group wants to purchase and install 10 solar-powered surveillance cameras at high-crime locations in the Village of Gouverneur. The locations have been noted by Village of Gouverneur Chief of Police Darren Fairbanks of the Gouverneur Police Department. Maps of potential locations were distributed at the community watch meeting. “We are going to first prioritize where the problem areas are, and stick them in the right spot. You are going to see that the hottest spot is over by Prospect St.,” Deputy Mayor Newvine said. “That is just the truth. They go over there a lot. You can cut from Prospect St., right behind NAPA onto Main St., and you can get from Prospect St. over to Parker St. where they can hide a little bit on the west side of town.” It is estimated that $50,000-$100,000 is needed to fund the project. Generous donations are already being promised. The group is also discussing fundraisers to help support the project. There also have been discussions on signage, social media presence, and so much more.
But more people need to be involved. The Gouverneur Community Watch Group is looking for participation from local clubs and community organizations, and is seeking representatives from the Gouverneur Chamber of Commerce, the Gouverneur Lions Club, the Gouverneur Kiwanis Club, the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035, among others. The group also plans to reach out to elected officials, including: St. Lawrence County District 5 Legislator Harry Smithers (R-Gouverneur), NYS Senator Mark Walczyk, NYS Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush, and others.
The Gouverneur Community Watch group needs a logo. Deputy Mayor Newvine said he contacted GHS Art Teacher Robert Decker on the topic. A logo design contest is anticipated, and local students are encouraged to participate.
The Gouverneur Community Watch group meets on the third Wednesday of each month, 6 p.m., at the Eldon B. Conklin Gouverneur Community Center, 4673 NY-58, Gouverneur. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 20. All those interested are encouraged to attend. For more information on how you can get involved, email cwnewvine@yahoo.com or phone Newvine’s NAPA Auto Parts at (315) 287-4098.
