GREENE – The Greene Police Department saw an increase in the number of calls it responded to in 2009, but made fewer arrests and issued fewer traffic tickets.
“A lot of what we do is community service and quality of life oriented,” said Greene Police Chief Steve Dutcher.
He explained that while police handled a number of criminal complaints, they also helped citizens with routine problems like being locked out of their vehicles, mediating in small disputes and checking area businesses at night.
“Greene is a very tight community and many of the residents are so close they really help in policing the area,” said Dutcher.
The Greene department employs five part-time officers, one full-time chief and one part-time administrator. It shares its station with the New York State Police, which operates a substation from the department part-time through the week. Officers typically cover 88 hours a week, focusing on times of high criminal activity such as weekend nights and holidays.
“People often just come up to us to talk. We encourage it because you can’t underestimate the value of establishing strong community relationships,” said Dutcher.
The department issued 1,018 traffic tickets in 2009, down from the 1,240 issued in 2008.
Dutcher reported the department also handled 1,731 calls to service in 2009, an increase of about 30 percent from 1,325 calls in 2008.
Of those, Dutcher said his officers investigated 137 criminal complaints, down from the 163 reported in 2008. In those 137 criminal cases, police filed charges in 118 of them – including 76 violations, 35 misdemeanors and seven felonies.
A number of those felonies concerned a string of child pornography arrests in the Village of Greene that began taking place in late 2008.
The last of three different investigations of Internet child pornography occurred in June with the final defendant being arrested. The Greene Police worked closely with New York State Police and federal prosecutors in tracking down the criminals, who all later pleaded guilty to sex offenses. One was sentenced to 10 years in state prison.
“Honesty there’s probably one of these guys in every town. Hopefully it’ll only be a matter of time and technology before they get caught. If all these arrests do is scare other predators from trying to commit these crimes in our community, then that’s a start,” Dutcher said.
Dutcher said these kinds of public law enforcement activities were similar to other strategies adopted by the department.
“We are very visible on the street. We are in the community and people often say it’s remarkable how often they see our cars out on patrol. We want our presence to be felt and known because hopefully it will help deter crime,” he said.
Something that helps make the Greene Police stick out is that they currently use two brother and sister Belgian Malinois drug detection dogs, Mina and Larz. The dogs are certified to detect five different kinds of drugs. Dutcher and Greene Police Officer Norm Shaffer paid for the dogs out of their own pockets four years ago and volunteered their time for the training at no cost to the Village of Greene. They are two of only four active drug dogs in Chenango County.
“The dogs continue to be a huge resource for us and will no doubt be a useful tool for years to come. They, in part with other actions we’ve undertaken, seem to be working and serious crime continues to fall in the village,” said Dutcher.