Crime Watch Committee

Thursday - March 18: Wellsville's Crime Watch Committee came out of winter hibernation this past Thursday. The meeting was held at Village Hall and Chairwoman Janet Taggart conducted the meeting. There were nine other members of the Committee present.

Pictured above is WPD Officers Glenn LaClair and Justin Wright being recognized for their heads up efforts saving a Village youngster they found wandering the streets in the middle of the night. It was January 7 with below freezing temperatures and and even colder wind chill factor that they discovered the pre-school aged boy in night clothes and a blankey wrapped around him walking down a street. The lad had decided he was going to find his dad after waking up in the middle of the night. When first seen the officers said they thought it was a plastic bag blowing down the street. Fortunately for that little boy they didn't just ignore it and discovered the shivering young man. While one officer held the lad close to warm him up the other followed the kid's foot prints in the snow to track him back to his home.

The officers were presented a Certificate of Appreciation from a grateful community preventing what could have had a very tragic ending. Shown from the left is Officer LaClair, Officer Wright and Committee Chairwoman Janet Taggart.

It was voted by the Committee to make a donation for cartridges to the WPD. The cartridges are for the Police Department's Stinger System taser type weapons they acquired last year. The disabling guns WPD has shoots darts. It's a defensive weapon for officers to use when being attacked by a violent offender. Last year the PD gave a demonstration of how the weapons work showing the effect they have on the body. It temporarily disables a person giving an arresting officer time to more conventually restrain someone.

The program for last Thursday's meeting was presented by Sgt. Glenn Knedall of the St. Clair Twp. Police Department. Sgt. Kendall is the midnight supervisor for the township. In addition to that he is a Domestic Abuse instructor for cadets going to Eastern Gateway Community College's law officers course. He is also a Special Deputy for the CC Sheriff's Office on their Special Response Team.

Kendall gave a very informative presentation on domestic abuse. He covered all types of victim abuse and what the law requires police offers to do. In very simple terms domestic abuse is the mistreatment of any family member or someone who lives with one another.

Domestic abuse is probably one of the most repeated calls that officers respond to when a cry for help is made. It is also one of the more costly ones in the long run. As an example Kendall said it is very common for an abused wife to recant when it comes time to testify before a court of law. Consequently the charges are dropped and the abuser is released until the next time. Very seldom does an abuser in that situation change his way of treating his victim.

Abuse is usually a progressive behavior starting with verbal threats and escalating to physically assaulting their victim and worse. Many times it is fueled by alcohol or illicit use of drugs. Sometimes it's just an angry reaction of having a bad day for one reason or another. The abuser comes home and finds something that is just the "straw to break the camel's back".

Ohio Revised Code classifies domestic abuse in three categories that require the responding officer to place someone under arrest. The first is Knowingly Cause such as deliberately hitting the victim. Second is Wrecklessly Cause such as throwing objects at their victims or breaking up things in a threatening manner. The third is Threaten Bodily Injury saying things like "I'm going to bash your teeth down your throat", "I'm going to knock you out" or "I'm going to kill you". Kendall said it is often safer to arrest someone even if everything is apparently calm once a police officer arrives on scene. A call for help was made for a reason and it's safer to let the judge decide. Many times a charge for domestic abuse is plea bargained down to disorderly conduct.

Many victims are too insecure to get out of an abusive relationship. It often relates to not having the money for moving and feeding the family. Many victims would rather take chances on their well being rather than taking that first step to get out from under the threat of further abuse. It's sad but unfortunately true in far too many situations. However, there is outside help available from victim advocate organizations, family services, children services and many religious organizations. Sgt. Kendall left a supply of all kinds of literature for all kinds of information that is available at Village Hall. It's free for the taking.

Sgt. Kendall's presentation was arranged by WPD Crime Watch Liaison Shawn Bloor. Next month Officer Bloor has CC EMA Director Darren Dobson lined up to explain the Nixle System. It's a system that automatically sends out notifications of pending disasters such as Flood Watches, the threat of tornadoes and other instances. The Nixle system is available for everyone to use.

The Crime Watch Committee meets once a month on the third Thursday of the month. It is open to the public and everyone is welcome to attend. The next meeting is scheduled for 6 P.M. April 15 at Village Hall.

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