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OPD cracks down on quality-of-life issues
By JANET REBEOR-DEXTERjdexter@palltimes.com
Published: Wednesday, October 12, 2011
10:12 PM EDT
OSWEGO — In response to
quality-of-life issues in the city of Oswego, members of the police
department have been tasked with cracking down on loud parties and other
disturbances in residential areas.“Over the past
several weeks the Oswego City Police Department (OPD) has been deploying
additional personnel, particularly on the weekends, in order to help
address quality-of-life concerns in residential neighborhoods,”
said Police Chief Tory DeCaire. “In addition to uniformed officers
on patrol, these details have also consisted of uniformed and plain-
clothed foot patrols, as well as undercover details targeting large
parties involved in the illegal sale of alcohol. Oswego City Police have
partnered with SUNY Oswego Police while conducting these quality-of-life
details and have also received support from the United States Border
Patrol.”According to data compiled as part of the
recent crackdown, 31 people were arrested in the last several weeks for
loud parties and other noise disturbances, public drunkenness and
urination, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief and theft of property.
Visit www.palltimes.com for a copy
of the report.
One quality-of-life issue residents have been vocal about recently,
in conjunction with the loud parties in the neighborhoods, is the for-
hire buses that usher people to and from those parties. Neighbors told
councilors during the Sept. 26 Common Council meeting that the buses and
their riders often create disturbances in residential neighborhoods.“I’m here to speak for a lot of my neighbors,”
said 3rd Ward resident James Castiglia. “Drunks outside, bands
playing in houses, and I’m also here to complain about these buses
that are running up and down my neighborhood, passing each other, one
right after another for four or five hours a night with loads of drunken
kids on them.”
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Sue Sweet, a resident of the 1st Ward, lives in close
proximity to fraternity houses and said the problem is mainly college
students. “They are terrorizing my neighborhood,” she said
during a recent council meeting. “We’ve absolutely had
it. We are looking to the city, to the council, to protect us. …
This is not just regular, normal drinking — they are coming in
packs of 50 to 60 kids. … They’re banging on the sides of
the house, playing drunken hide-n-seek in our side yards, trying to find
the next party.”“D” bus owner Lee Walker
said his buses provide a service that is in demand and further said that
he is operating under the correct permits and procedures required by the
city and the Department of Transportation.According to a
Freedom of Information Law request with the city clerk’s office by
The Palladium-Times, Walker has two buses and three drivers working under
his license certification with the city of Oswego.The other
bus competitor in the bus transport business, “A” bus owner
Allen Chase, has four vehicles and five drivers registered with the
city.In the midst of all the recent discussion, both Walker
and Chase said they understand the concerns of the residents, and are
willing to work with authorities.
Chase, in an interview on Saturday, related a
situation recently where one of his buses was called by patrons to a
residential area near the college where dozens of students had left a
party and it was raining outside. “It was about 2 a.m. and our
phone started ringing off the hook. … When I pulled up in front of
the house, there (were) probably about 60 kids outside wrestling in the
rain. They weren’t fighting, they were playing,” Chase said.
“Within seconds of me stopping, a city police car came up next to
me … responding to a complaint.” As the patrons began to get
on the bus, Chase said the officer approached him. “How many of
these do you want me to take?” Chase said he asked the officer.“Get them out of here,” is what the officer
responded, according to Chase.“All of the buses provide
a valuable service to the college and a valuable service to public
safety,” Chase said. “Previous to these buses running, these
kids were potentially driving and/or walking the streets … which
poses a whole other public safety risk.”In a
nonscientific online poll conducted by The Palladium-Times, taken the
week of Oct. 3-9, 63 percent of the 395 respondents — if given only
the choice of keeping the buses or removing them altogether — said
the service is necessary to keep students who have been drinking from
driving or walking the streets drunk.SUNY Oswego Lifestyles
Alcohol and Other Drugs Program Coordinator Ted Winkworth said his
purpose is to make sure all students are safe with respect to drugs and
alcohol. “One of our concerns specifically with the bus is that if
students have increased access to alcohol and a more firm safety net,
then I’m worried that they might have less accountability,”
Winkworth said. “I rode the bus a couple weeks ago and when I got
on, the students who got on the bus were already hammered drunk. The
thought is ‘well, I’ve already got a ride home, … I
can just get smashed when I go out.’“On the
positive side, we want to make sure students aren’t getting behind
the wheel of a car, because that’s the way most students get
injured or killed when it comes to drugs and alcohol,” Winkworth
said. “On the flip side, you don’t want to provide this easy
access to alcohol because we start to worry about people overdoing it and
having alcohol poisoning.”In an attempt to flesh out
the credence of the theory, Winkworth’s office went into the field
on Friday and did random breathalyzer tests of students who were going
out to party. “We want to know if that bus is kind of giving
students the green light to be more risky in their pregame, so we went
out with breathalyzers to check that theory out,” Winkworth
said.His team performed 120 tests, and while some students
tested below 0.05 percent and three students tested very high, most
tested in the average range of 0.08 percent to 0.1 percent as they were
going out.Winkworth said they are talking about regulating
the buses on campus. “They operate like a taxi, but it’s not
a taxi. It’s a bus. … They stopped at every residence hall,
whether there were people outside or not, just to check and see if anyone
wanted to get on,” he said. Seeking to protect the underclassmen,
“especially the freshmen who are still figuring out how they want
to interact with Oswego,” Winkworth is concerned about enticing
easy access. “When you’ve got a bus that’s stopping
outside your residence hall on Friday and Saturday nights every 15
minutes to bring you down to the bars, that’s easy access for
someone who might not have had a plan already on their own,” the
coordinator said.DeCaire agrees that the “A” and
“D” buses provide a valuable service to the community.
“Regardless of their target customer, one key positive attribute is
their ability to safely transport those who may, in other circumstances,
choose to drink then get behind a wheel of a car, thus endangering
themselves and others,” the chief said. “Conversely, many
recent complaints from neighborhood residents involve not so much the
buses themselves, but rather the behavior of the passengers upon loading
and unloading of the buses.”DeCaire stated that his
department’s goal, as well as that of the community stakeholders,
is “to determine a fair and equitable solution that accentuates the
positive attributes that these buses provide, while minimizing, to the
best of our ability, some of the negative aspects” that then
require the involvement of his department.“I have
recently met with owners of both the “A” and “D”
buses, explained our current situation, and encouraged an open dialog to
help facilitate a better working relationship between the city, business
owners and the residents,” DeCaire said. “Hopefully, we will
be able to find a reasonable solution soon.”
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Reader Comments
[simpleblog:count:1000:::filename:1::1:asc] comments to this
story.-->
The following are comments from the readers. In no way
do they represent the view of palltimes.com.
1pumpDaisy wrote on Oct 13, 2011 11:21 AM:" Mr Castiglia should speak for himself.
If it were important to his neighbors, then they should voice their
opinion. Ms. Sweet should have made a better decision in the location of
owning her home. Whether the buses exist or not, kids are going to drink.
The service the buses provide is invaluable, and not just for drunk kids.
So kill someones livelyhood, unemploy more people, because a few
residents don't like it when a bus goes by their house. Give me a break!
You people live in a college town. The students support this service and
most of the other business owners, possibly contribute to Mr Castiglia
and Ms Sweet's livelyhood as well as their quality of life!
"Report Abuse
brunosmom wrote on Oct 13, 2011 4:30 PM:" 1pumpDaisy, these people are also the
ones who are paying taxes, NOT the kids who are out causing trouble.
Saying that Ms. Sweet should have made a better decision as to the
location of her home is just plain ignorant. She has every right to BUY a
home wherever she pleases and expect that her neighborhood will be decent
and protected by the city, because she pays CITY TAXES.I agree that
the buses are doing a good thing, but have you ever had these kids gather
outside your house while they wait for the bus? They create huge
disturbances, throw their trash on the ground and cause trouble. Then we,
the taxpayers, have to go out and pick up after them. I don't appreciate
the frat kids making noise outside of my house that late at night. My
baby is trying to sleep. Maybe whatever noise they create outside is
funny to the drunks, but it isn't funny to me when I have deal with a
screaming baby and try to put her back to sleep because some a-holes
don't have any respect for their neighbors. All we ask for is a little
respect from these people while they are out having a good time. I don't
think some common decency is too much to ask for, but apparently you do.
"Report Abuse
ninnermatteson wrote on Oct 15, 2011 4:32 PM:" If you are going to attack the college
kids then I can't help but speak my mind about the young children. I
purchased a house, that I occupy, in a neighborhood/street that is
commonly known for the majority of the properties to be college rentals.
It was perfect, I didn't have to know who my neighbors were or even talk
to them because they leave every year. Then this year, some not so
responsible products of Oswego decided to move to my neighborhood with
their small children and allow them to play in the street like it their
private playground. They scream and hollar and cry and fight. If the
cops are going to patrol for college kids causing trouble then patrol
Porter St. and get these little rugrat children ranging in age from 4 -
10 off my street and to shut up with their loud noice. "Report Abuse
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