Column by Norma Higgs — Have to take a detour off Pine Avenue in 1956 this week to report on an event held by the Niagara Falls Block Club Council for its member clubs and other interested citizens.  

Each year we offer a retreat on a cold and snowy January day as this seems to be the best time to catch up with everyone during our so called  “down time.” The event was held at Antonio’s Conference Center on Niagara Falls Boulevard with registration and breakfast.

Our program started at 9:15 a.m. with our fearless leader Roger Spurback who set the tone with his welcome by drawing attention to photos of the numerous raids orchestrated by our city’s finest, the NFPD Emergency Response Team and in many instances with outside assistance from the Federal DEA and ATF, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office, the New York State Police, and even the Border Patrol hovering overhead in a helicopter. The FBI also provides assistance. The photos and stories were from the Niagara Gazette columns covered by their reporter Rick Pfeiffer and were spread around the room on every table. He asked those seated to hold them up and stated “they each represented successful take-downs of street gangs, drug and gun merchants along with other unsavory troublemakers.” It was pretty impressive to see all these reprints fluttering above our heads making a statement. Since two of these occurred in my neighborhood I was more than impressed — more like grateful.

Following some remarks by state Sen. Mark Grisanti and Assemblyman John Ceretto, the members of a panel took to their seats to answers questions submitted by the audience. Some asked later — “Why were the citizens not allowed to ask their questions directly instead of through Roger who acted as moderator?” In response I say, if you have a legitimate beef about a situation under the control of the person you want to address, research the subject, prepare a possible solution you think may work and make an appointment to meet the official to discuss it. Do not bring it to the public arena as it only causes a back and forth debate which is often lengthy and takes time away from questions by others. We have run into this in the past and I vowed never to let it happen again. All of the officials seated on our panel are the type who is willing to meet with the public one-on-one. If you find out differently, let me know.

The panel consisted of Mayor Paul Dyster, City Corporation Counsel Craig Johnson, Sheriff James Voutour, District Attorney Michael Violante, Police Superintendent John Chella, Falls police Lt. Bryan DalPorto of the Narcotics Division, City Code Enforcement Director Dennis Virtuoso and Eric Boerdman, Re-Entry coordinator and John Cicchetti, director of the probation department. Questions came from every corner of the room on all topics residents are concerned with.

In response to misinformation regarding the number of police officers on the street, Chella stated the department has 155 officers, 110 dedicated to patrol working in three shifts — more than six at any given time including traffic officers and undercover detectives could be on the street up until 4 a.m. as well as narcotics and/or Roving Anti-Crime officers in unmarked vehicles. DalPorto responded to whether crime is up or down describing the CompStat (short for comparative statistics) meetings where all units come together to read previous statistics. These “stats” show crime numbers are down, if they go up — it is addressed promptly. Every complaint that comes in through the tip line is investigated. The goal is to make arrests through the federal statues.

Violante addressed issues regarding bail which he stated is supposed to ensure reappearance of defendants in court. He feels bail is set too low in many instances but judges have to meet the legal standards. Chella added that our D.A. has filled the gap between local and federal authorities which has helped with the high count of arrests, referring to the Dec. 3 arrests of Wild Nation gang members. He also expressed concern, revealing that juvenile crime is rising according to analysis of crime statistics. This brought questions of what can be done and all agreed with Violante that this is a social problem and everyone at the table would welcome suggestions on how to better educate and deal with young offenders. “Prosecuting 14-year-olds is not my idea of a solution but it is sometime necessary, but the responsibility falls somewhere other than his office or law enforcement.”

Chella added that the city has made great efforts through community relations officers and liaisons at the schools and direct contact with youth. He introduced Allen Booker and Owen Steed who work in this capacity, along with Officer David Cudahy who visits local school and talks to the students about bullying and such. Dyster referred to the need of alternatives for youth to stay out of trouble and mentioned the Legends basketball facility with mentors available at the site.

Voutour mentioned new Legislation under the governor’s 2012-13  budget covering DNA sampling for all felony convictions as well as misdemeanors within the penal law. DNA submissions have solved over 2,700 cases. He called the governor’s proposal “the greatest thing since the fingerprint” as it allows identifying offenders much easier. He asked everyone to encourage our state officials to support this.  

Next week: Code enforcement, city ordinances, and other items.

Norma Higgs serves with the Niagara Beautification Commission and Niagara Falls Block Club Council. Her columns appear Mondays in the Gazette.