NORWICH – The director of the Stop DWI program, Kathryn J. Clemens, sat down to discuss the drug and drinking problems in Chenango County and the different ways the program attempts to combat them.
Clemens, who has a masters in recreation administration, worked for the Youth Bureau in Chenango County for more than 20 years, before its funding was cut by 50 percent. The Youth Bureau funded recreational programs in the county, including parks and pools. The bureau’s funds were used to make recreational programs more accessible to youth in Chenango County from all socioeconomic backgrounds.
“Not everyone can afford memberships for recreation. Coming from a background in therapeutic recreation, I know the benefits of community recreation,” said Clemens.
When the funding was cut, Clemens said that county decision-makers wanted to keep the Youth Bureau in place and maintain the revenue resource. They decided to do this by combining the two revenue streams from the Youth Bureau and the Stop DWI program, which allowed the Youth Bureau to keep all its funding.
“They put families and youths first. They wanted to still be able to offer the community its recreation program,” said Clemens.
Clemens became the head of the combined Stop DWI and Youth Bureau program over a year ago. She said that her number one goal for the Stop DWI program is to “eliminate drinking or drugging and driving on the road.”
“I personally care because I have seven kids and twelve grandchildren. Professionally, it’s my job to look out for the safety of the people in the county,” said Clemens. “From the Youth Bureau side, it’s my job to promote recreation in the county, and we have been able to do that without charging. It gives them something to do with their leisure time other than drinking and drugging.”
Clemens explained that this is important because kids tell her they are bored, and boredom and drinking and drugging go hand in hand. “Kids that are involved with appropriate leisure time activities are less likely to get in trouble as adults, because they know what to do with their free time.”
Stop DWI tackles drinking, drugging and driving two different ways, awareness and enforcement.
Stop DWI builds awareness by working with school programs in the county to tailor educational programs its students. “During prom time, we do the maze, which is the simulated crash with the courtroom and coffin. We try to get into as many school districts as possible,” said Clemens.
Clemens works with an identified program in the school like S.A.D. or the driver’s education course. She then coordinates the local fire department, local judge, the district attorney, public defender, sheriff’s office, local police, local funeral home, and the local emergency squad – sometimes there is even a helicopter involved – to create the school’s maze.
The maze begins with a simulated crash. After the crash, the consequences of the crash are experienced by the children, which are modified according to what each school would like to include. The students are then extricated from the crash by the fire department and emergency squad, often with the jaws of life. The student acting as the person responsible for the crash is arrested, taken to mock court to face the local judge and district attorney and incarcerated in a cell by the participating officers. The maze typically takes place on the school’s assembly stage, with the courtroom on one side of the stage and the coffin on the other side. Once the student is incarcerated, they flip over to the coffin scene. A student typically volunteers to lie in the coffin and they hold a funeral as if the student is deceased.
“In Sherburne, they did a grim reaper activity, where the students walked around with a mask on their face the entire day, didn’t talk and pretended to be dead,” said Clemens, describing some of her experiences at school mazes.
“The student who pretended to die in Otselic Valley wrote a statement about the memories she wanted people to remember her by. You could hear a pin drop, it was so intense. The Otselic Valley driver’s ed and chemistry teacher was also the head of the EMT department in Otselic and she told the students, ‘I don’t want to see you in that coffin, because I am the one that is going to be putting you the body bag.’ We also had a lot of parents come to the Otselic event. The talks between the parents, schools and the students are awesome.”
Stop DWI also builds awareness through drug impairment training for education professionals. The county departments and local organizations, including Department of Social Services, probation, drug and alcohol in Chenango County Mental Health, the local nursing home and the Norwich City Police, also participate in the program. “Every school in Chenango County has participated, including BOCES,” said Clemens.
“The program helps education professionals to know when to call the parents and when to call the police for help. They are also taught how to deter the student from getting in the car and driving away after school. In the school setting, the hope is to get them help. Whether or not the police are called depends on the type of drug concerned.”
Stop DWI recently received a request from the tri-county library system to include them in the next session. “If people that are using or intoxicated have nothing to do, they go to the library if they are cold. They need help,” said Clemens.
Stop DWI uses enforcement to stop drinking, drugging and driving by doing “crack downs.” Crack downs are law enforcement stopping points on the road during specific holidays to check for and catch impaired drivers. Clemens recently applied for the Crack Down Grant. “When someone is caught, they are arrested and convicted,” said Clemens.
Stop DWI also uses the courts to deter driving on the road through enforcement. “I try to deter people from driving on the road through the D.A. The conviction determines the revenue and surcharges that go back to the state. The judges have latitude on how much of a fine is assessed. If judges do not make them pay, there is a drop in revenues I have to disperse. If the numbers of arrests stay the same, but the fines are decreasing, we are losing money for the program and the whole county,” said Clemens.
Clemens gave her opinion about how she thinks this negatively affects those that drink or drug and drive and the entire county. “If people are out there driving on the road, they are making a choices that have consequences. We don't want them on the road. They cost us money every time they do this, so they need to learn to think before they get behind the wheel. We have too many repeat offenses. Some of the local judges say if they served their time, I am going to make them pay a fine, because they aren't working. What's the difference between sitting around at home or sitting around in a jail? The only difference is that they are going to be sober while their in jail,” said Clemens.
Stop DWI is looking for further ways to deter drinking, drugging an driving in the future. “Karen Osborn from probation is looking for options that may have more affect on treatment and modifying behavior. That is something we are going to be looking into for the future. Looking at different program options. I have a great deal of respect for Karen. We both want to make the county safer for everyone,” said Clemens.
To learn more about Stop DWI and Youth Bureau programs, visit their Facebook page called “Chenango County STOP DWI/Youth Bureau.”