OBSERVER file photo
Police agencies from across Chautauqua County are shown at a homicide in Dunkirk in 2023. No charges have been filed in that incident.
Shortly after 8:15 p.m. Monday, the scanner call went out. Law enforcement officers along with the Dunkirk and Fredonia Fire Departments responded to a gunshot wound at the Econo Lodge off Route 60 just near the village limits.
It marked the fifth shooting incident in five days in Chautauqua County. That may be common for a larger metropolitan area, but in this rural region it seems startling.
District Attorney Jason Schmidt may have said it best to put those numbers in perspective. “Before we even closed out the month of April, a total of five confirmed homicides occurred in our relatively small community,” he said. This is more than the number of homicides which occurred in the city of Boston, Mass., through June, if you can believe that.”
Schmidt made that statement earlier this month. Since then, the situation has become even more troubling.
It began on Aug. 14 in Dunkirk on the 300 block of Washington Avenue around 10:30 p.m. While the gunshot injury did not appear life threatening, according to officers, it happened in an area that includes a church, school and a non-profit agency.
That is more than enough reason for concern.
On Aug. 16, two more shootings occurred in Jamestown — with the first one of them turning deadly that occurred after 2 a.m. in a parking lot on North Main Street, a high-traffic area of downtown during the day. Another incident took place on Prendergast Avenue with the final shooting of the 23-hour spree occuring at 1 a.m. on Victoria Avenue.
Fredonia’s incident rounded out what became one of the most prolific weeks of violence in years in this region. It fits with a narrative that seems to be the case nationally.
A Rural Violent Crime Initiative is one of the projects of the National Policing Institute. The organization envisions police and communities working together to implement best practices that are informed or supported by research, resulting in safe, healthy, economically thriving, and mutually trusting communities.
“National Violent crime is on the rise in many jurisdictions, including rural communities,” the institute notes. “Rural law enforcement agencies are left to tackle these issues, often with a decreasing tax base, personnel shortages, expansive geographic territory, and lack of access to medical treatment that can make violent crimes more fatal than in urban settings.”
Adding to the local crime dilemma is the landscape of New York state politics. Bail reform is being blamed for repeat offenders being on the loose while prison closings continue at a rapid pace.
Six locations, including the Gowanda Correctional Facility, were shuttered in 2022. Two more locations — Great Meadow and Sullivan Correctional Facilities are expected to be shut down by the end of October.
During the five-day span of shootings, state Sen. George Borrello and other lawmakers shined a spotlight on those working and suffering in the jail system. During a rally at Sunset Bay Beach Club, Borrello and other state lawmakers called on state Gov. Kathy Hochul to issue an executive order suspending full-contact visitation in state prisons to stop the inflow of deadly drugs into the facilities.
That demand comes in the wake of several life-threatening incidents where correctional officers and staff have been made dangerously ill from exposure to suspected fentanyl and other unknown drugs during interactions with inmates. In less than two weeks, three officers and sergeants fell gravely ill and required emergency hospital care after coming into contact with unknown drugs while attending to inmates. The incidents occurred Aug. 4 and 13 at Collins Correctional Facility and Aug. 8 at Wyoming Correctional Facility.
“We have access to technology that can greatly reduce the incidence of drugs and other contraband coming into the prisons. However, by all accounts it is not being used to screen visitors, as it was intended,” Borrello said that day. “It’s outrageous and another example of the criminal coddling mindset that has brought us to this point.”
Adding to the dilemma are the staffing challenges being faced by members of the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association — even with fewer jails. According to Chris Summers, union president, low morale on the front lines is hurting recruitment efforts. “Our members are being forced to work unprecedented amounts of mandatory overtime which at times includes shifts as long as 24 hours straight,” he said.
In the meantime, the state and area conundrum is a reality. Dangerous crimes are happening close to home and those responsible are being dealt with too delicately as fewer locations remain open for placement.
State numbers indicate that since 2008, prison populations have decreased from 62,597 to 31,659 in 2023 — a 49% decrease. If facilities keep closing statewide and corrections officer recruitment continues to be a hardship, how can residents in state communities have a sense of security?
Last week’s violence was bedlam for Schmidt and his office staff. It is one more indication of how the scales of justice have become unbalanced.
John D’Agostino is the editor of The Post-Journal, OBSERVER and Times Observer in Warren, Pa. Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com or call 716-487-1111, ext. 253.