Only a week after members of the Conneaut Lake community met to discuss reports of a recent surge in juvenile problems in the borough, residents and law enforcement officials are already in the planning stages of developing a neighborhood watch program.
Chief Todd Pfeifer of the Conneaut Lake Regional Police Department said he was happy to report that it’s back to “business as usual in the borough.”
“It was just a typical Fourth of July weekend here,” he said. “We had a retail theft incident and a few kids who were under 21 caught drinking at Fireman’s Beach, but that’s all normal stuff.”
Crime in the borough certainly isn’t on the rise, according to Pfeifer.
“From our perspective, nothing has increased,” he said. “With regards to police-related calls, our stats are still down compared to this same time last year.”
Rita and Mark Damratoski, who organized the meeting July 2 at Fifth Street Presbyterian Church in response to their own experience with a few young hoodlums on the streets, agree that the neighborhoods seem to have returned to normal.
“Ever since the meeting we haven’t even seen the kids who were causing the problems,” Rita said. “But what we have seen is a lot more people in general out and walking around the town with their kids.”
At the townhall-style meeting a week ago, more than 100 members of the community showed up, some who voiced their concerns about the safety of themselves, their families and their property at the hands of some out-of-control kids and potential “gang” activity.
The number of people in attendance surprised both Pfeifer and the Damratoskis.
“I was surprised that so many people showed up at the meeting,” Pfeifer said, “because based on the number of reports that had come into our office, we weren’t aware that so many people were concerned about it.”
Demographically speaking, the majority of the people in the audience were near retirement age, and according to Pfeifer, that made sense.
“There weren’t many parents there at the meeting,” he said. “So the parents either believe they are in control of their children or that their children aren’t the ones involved in the trouble.”
He also pointed out that a third factor could be that the parents whose children were causing some of the problems were “too embarrassed to show up.”
For the latter group of parents, Pfeifer had advice: “Parents need to control their children,” he said. “And if they can’t then they should call the police department because information that they have can cause the activity to cease and even protect their child in the long run.”
After the July 2 meeting was concluded, people began signing a list expressing their interest in the formation of a neighborhood watch program. According to Pfeifer, he’s never had experience in the formation of a watch program, but said he would certainly support it.
Mark Damratoski said that he has also observed a recent change in the community’s atmosphere.
“Things are great! I’ve seen a few of the kids around, but they haven’t been intimidating at all,” he said. “I think that these kids realize that they’ve stirred up a bee hive and that if they don’t knock it off, they are going to get stung — by the community and by law enforcement.”
Rita Damratoski said about 20 people have already signed up and that the names on the list were turned over to Pfeifer on Tuesday, and hopes that the first meeting can be held sometime in August.
For more information about the neighborhood watch program, contact Chief Pfeifer at 382-4364.
Penni Schaefer can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at pschaefer@meadvilletribune.com.
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