Description
All of these issues are running rampant in this area. I have had items stolen off our property numerous times, teenagers trespassing through properties to go from Elm to Railroad. Many problems in this area. The police seem as if they are present, yet do not bother to enforce these issues.
13 Comments
Anonymous (Guest)
Don Pisarczyk (Guest)
sick of the troublemakers (Guest)
Don Pisarczyk (Guest)
sick of the troublemakers (Guest)
don pisarczyk (Guest)
nickinoneida (Guest)
Don - If you call the State Police or County Sheriff they will tell you it's a local issue and direct the call to the City PD. There is absolutely nothing more that the State or County can do for you than Oneida PD can do. The laws are enforced the same by every department.
It is absolutely ridiculous the number of people that call the State Police thinking they'll do something differently. The State Police have very limited powers in the City of Oneida. An Oneida City officer has more power of jurisdiction than the State Police within the City of Oneida as they are the agency of jurisdiction. State Police are meant for patrolling areas that do not have their own agencies, and assisting those agencies at their discretion.
I'm unsure what "law enforcement" experience you have - but threatening someone is not harassment (at least not on the first incident). Section 240.26 of the NY Penal Law states that in order to constitute a charge of harassment a person must "engage in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits acts which alarm or seriously annoy such other person and which serve no legitimate purpose".
As such, the police were 100% correct in telling you that there was not enough to substantiate a charge. There is no "course of conduct". There was a single isolated incident - which does not substantiate a course of conduct. The only time a harassment charge can be applied for a single incident is if physical contact is made (pushing, shoving, kicking, etc). If injuries occur, then it becomes Assault.
I know it's convenient to blame the police for everything - but you can't blame them in every case. They can't make an arrest based on a law that doesn't exist. They can only make an arrest when a law is broken that they can actually charge someone with. Your beef is not with the police - it's with your elected lawmakers. I strongly recommend writing to your elected lawmakers in Albany and encourage them to update the law to meet the times.
Now that my small rant is over - here are a few helpful tips for your situation. #1: Put several NO TRESPASSING signs conspicuously posted around your property. Having that sign in your yard is the difference between a simple trespass (violation) and a Criminal Trespass charge (misdemeanor). It is also the difference between the police being able to make an arrest and prosecute based on a first offense. #2: Watch your property. Get together with neighbors you trust - watch each others properties. Know each others schedules - learn who should be there and who shouldn't be there. Report suspicious behavior to the police - even if they're not doing something criminal - if they appear suspicious have the police check them out. Being proactive (rather than reactive) can prevent a lot of crime. If nothing else, it gets a police officer in the area, and that person knows that there is a police presence in this town - and they'll move on.
I hope some of this helps.
don pisarczyk (Guest)
Nick- I wasn't blaming the police for anything, if you read my other posts you'll see for the most part I admire the Oneida police, was impressed with their response time, as impotent as that response was, and I like this town, but you can understand my frustration.Sad to know that I have no other options, that the state and county are not able to do anything, either.As to harrassment, perhaps the definition of harrassment should be redefined in the town of Oneida because in many localities what occured, was in fact, harrassment. My law enforcement experience is not vast, 8 years military police, 4 years with DPS in Texas, but in most places having someone step across a public sidewalk right in front of your home and threatening to kick your a*& in front of witnesses IS harrassment. You gave me NY's code,Here is a common definition of what harrassment constitutes.
Harassment Law & Legal Definition
Harassment is governed by state laws, which vary by state, but is generally defined as a course of conduct which annoys, threatens, intimidates, alarms, or puts a person in fear of their safety. Harassment is unwanted, unwelcomed and uninvited behavior that demeans, threatens or offends the victim and results in a hostile environment for the victim. Harassing behavior may include, but is not limited to, epithets, derogatory comments or slurs and lewd propositions, assault, impeding or blocking movement, offensive touching or any physical interference with normal work or movement, and visual insults, such as derogatory posters or cartoons.
I would consider by that definition stepping towards one and threatening to beat them in public harrassment. As far as signs go, what the heck will signs do? A 6 foot fence didn't keep people out of my yard, a lock on the shed didn't keep them out of my shed, and having receipts, owners manuals, serial numbers, and descriptions of the items stolen didn't bring my stuff back.The police were at my neighbors several times a month for two years so why would I think that my calling them repeatedly would get results other then keeping them from real crimes they can/will prosecute? The ONE and only time I did call, the neighbors threatened me in retaliation, egged my house repeatedly, and the cops were unable to do anything about it, so that worked out well, didn't it? I go to work,pay my taxes, live quietly,I haven't had so much as a traffic ticket in 30 years.I don't use up police resources by having them at my home every other week for my monster kids but I have to live in a fenced compound in a paranoid state with all my good neighbors watching over me? I can spend all my spare time pressure washing dried egg off my home? I can prosecute AFTER I get my butt kicked, maybe, and consider myself damn lucky if that's all my neighbor does? Yeah, that sounds fair, I'm beginning to see why there are so many for sale signs in Oneida.If the laws won't allow the police to act then perhaps a revamping of the laws are in order because the dirtballs seem to have more rights then the law abiding.
nickinoneida (Guest)
Don - I completely understand your frustration. I have to deal with some of the same issues - although it's gotten much better over the past year in my area. Unfortunately with the way the laws are written, the bad guys win more often than not.
Harassment is a state law - for which someone at the state level would have to modify. I'm no lawyer - but I'm pretty sure that the City cannot enact an ordinance to enhance a state law already in place. It might be something worth asking your Councilman or the Mayor about bringing up at a Council meeting with the City Attorney.
A violation charge of Disorderly Conduct can be applied in cases where someone uses obscene language in public, makes an obscene gesture, obstructs the flow of traffic, or several other situations. However, because it is only a violation, it is very hard to prosecute unless it's witnessed by a police officer - and most often times it's not prosecuted because the maximum penalty is a fine or 15 days in jail - which isn't much of a deterrent.
Oneida used to have a City Curfew for juveniles which helped quite a bit to keep unruly kids off the street - or at least give the police a reason to take them off the street. Unfortunately that too was a lost hope when an appeals court declared a similar curfew law in Rochester unconstitutional.
I agree with you that it's a real shame that honest law-abiding citizens have to live every day looking over their shoulder - but until someone in Albany makes a change in the laws - we're stuck with what we have now.
Celeste (Guest)
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Beth (Guest)
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