More than 100 city residents attended the meeting Wednesday at City Hall.
BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week
OGDENSBURG – More than a 100 city residents packed into city hall for a public safety meeting aimed at addressing a rising crime problem.
Police Chief Mark Kerns along with Lt. Jarret LeClair, Sgt. Danielle Price and Detective Jason Streeter spoke candidly about the many issues facing the city.
In September a teenager was murdered in Ogdensburg and earlier this month a woman shot a man with a shotgun. While the victim received only minor injuries, police say it’s clear that the city is on edge.
Kerns said the city’s currently flooded with crystal meth and fentanyl and Ogdensburg has seen a major increase in the homeless population. He said police have sent various drugs to crime labs for testing that have come back positive for fentanyl, including marijuana and cocaine.
Kerns said that these problems occurred alongside deep cuts to the city police force, which once had an investigative unit of five detectives, but is now down to just one.
Kearns said just a few years prior the small department was very successful in busting meth labs, but that’s actually come back to hurt the city. That’s due to a federal law which prohibits those who’ve been involved with manufacturing meth from obtaining housing assistance.
Kearns said that anyone associated with making meth is unable to receive that assistance leaving them with fewer options to find a permanent living space.
He said while meth labs have largely died out, that’s because criminals are getting meth through the mail.
LeClair spoke at length about the massive strain on the department which is often fielding just two patrols during a night shift.
He said the department is struggling to keep up with major crimes, let alone smaller crimes. He said that a revolving door for small offenses has the department flooded with paperwork for criminals who aren’t seeing any repercussions. Worse yet,…
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