Crime watch

• Reporting a crime

• Home alarms

• The "Dark House" list

• The Chester Park Police Blotter . . .

  • Theft

  • Arson

  • Quality of life crimes . . .

    • Dumping 

    • Vandalism

    • Graffiti

    • Litter and dog waste

     

Reporting a crime

Home alarms

[Village Code ch.  27]

The "Dark House" list

Warning: be sure to call the police as soon as you return.

The Chester Park Police Blotter

Theft is the most common crime affecting Chester Park:

• Locked (but unalarmed) cars have been broken into and stolen.
• At least once a year a late-night prowler goes through unlocked cars stealing loose change, cells phones and any other valuables.
• Bicycles and tools have been taken from unlocked garages.
• Outdoor statuary and planters have disappeared or been smashed.

"Quality of life" crimes encompass a wide range of misdemeanors such as dumping, vandalism, littering and dog waste. While traditionally considered "low priority", police departments in New York City, Mt. Vernon and many other urban centers now recognize such crimes contribute greatly to the breakdown of community standards. Behavior that would otherwise go challenged or reported to police is ignored as the neighborhood slides into neglect. The streets become a safe haven for vagrancy and more serious crimes associated with alcohol and drugs.

Chester Park and its streets have been subject to many misdemeanors:

• Once again a Christmas tree was left in the Park in front of Birch Ave. [photo].  Last year (Jan. 2002) two Christmas trees, one wrapped in plastic, were left in a similar location.
• In November 2001 a United Water crew left approximately 10 pounds of asphalt behind a stone pillar. The asphalt, with tell-tale blue paint, had partly obstructed a water valve under Central Ave.
• In the spring of 2001 a paving crew dumped about 30 pounds of asphalt at the corner of Maple and Walnut after re-paving a driveway nearby.
• Wet concrete was deposited in the Park in front of 40 Birch sometime before the summer of 2001.
• Pine branches have been added repeatedly to wood piles at the corner of the Park (Chester Park does not have pine trees).

• Vandalism to residential property is an occasional threat. On Sunday, Dec. 22, 2002 vandals smashed planters along Central, Maple and Walnut Avenues.  A retaining wall and holiday decorations were attacked in 2001. A fruit tree planted by the town was killed by someone stripping the bark from the trunk (the tree has since been replaced).
• There is little left to vandalize in the Park itself. Most of the Park’s earlier improvements, from the original fountain of the 1910’s to the planters on the front columns, fell victim to vandals. Even the illuminated Christmas tree at the center was wrecked by thoughtless neighbors.

Today the only sign of vandalism in the Park are occasional chunks of old sidewalk thrown into the grass.  Plans to improve the park must include strategies for preventing and prosecuting such crimes.

In the spring of 2001 the wall of Chester Park was splattered with yellow paint. Maple Ave. resident Jackie Padula quickly produced paint and brush to cover the eyesore. Children are free to create outdoor murals, but are encouraged to use chalk.

• The most popular "quality of life" crime, littering will always be with us.
• Littering, like dumping and graffiti, is a social behavior: when people see litter on a street, they assume it’s "okay" if they litter too. For this reason it’s important to clean up even small amounts of litter before it attracts more.
• The most hazardous forms of littering have been smashed beer bottles (particularly prevalent in the mid-1990's) and dog waste.  Cigar and cigarette buts are the next most popular form of litter.
• Littering also occurs when trash left curbside is scattered by the wind or semi-wild beasts. Styrofoam packaging spilled from a box on Walnut last spring is still spreading through the grass of the Park.
• A former source of litter was household trash flying out of the small sanitation carts that use to zip through our streets. A large amount of litter along East Willow came from garbage workers transferring garbage to the large truck stationed there.  With our new sanitation service (Suburban Carting) this problem will hopefully go away.

Much of the litter in our neighborhood could be eliminated if we simply secured our garbage for its hair-raising voyage to the dump.

 What can we do to promote safety in our neighborhood?