Washington residents consider formation of Crime Watch patrol

WASHINGTON — Some town residents are mad and are not going to take it any more.

After years of “intimidation,” burglaries and threats, residents are discussing the formation of a Crime Watch patrol in the town.

The suggestion for Crime Watch came from Chief Deputy F. Thomas Russell, who with Sheriff Daniel Davey, met Wednesday night with residents and Selectmen Charles Vanner and Ray Garnett.

Sheriff Davey promised that department patrols in the town would continue at a high level.

Residents who attended the meeting admitted that the town has become calmer since increased police patrols started around the first of the year. But they also expressed concern that any laxity could lead to the same old situation.

Complaints centered around the Butterfield Park section of Crystal Lake. Because of a group that parties at the park into the night, most families hesitate to use the park. Residents complained about a string of burglaries and threats from the group.

In March, the town approved an appropriation to establish a slab and water well for a trailer setup in order to attract a deputy to the area. But after some negotiations, the deputy backed out of the deal.

Although some in town feared that he left out of “intimidation” by the group who hangs out at the park he was supposed to control, Sheriff Davey said the man left the force as a result of personal problems.

Davey and Chief Deputy Russell also suggested that the town might consider hiring a part-time or full-time deputy for Washington, just as Vinalhaven and North Haven do.

The Crime Watch system places volunteers equipped with radios on patrol in the town. When Crime Watch volunteers see something suspicious, they contact police to investigate.

“They become our eyes and ears,” Russell said. The program was an obvious success in Rockland, he said.

Criminals never know when headlights coming down the road indicate a car which contains a Crime Watch pair, he said.

Washington volunteers will meet with Crime Watch leadership in Rockland on Thursday to discuss the idea.

Because Washington is on the outskirts of Knox County in an area at the outer edge of Lincoln and Kennebec counties, it has had a crime problem of long standing. Davey, former detective in Lincoln County, said he was well aware of the Washington crime problem.

Selectmen Chairman Theodore Andrei complained last week that after his store was burglarized, he called the sheriff’s office, but got no response. The dispatcher remarked that the town was a long way from Rockland and the sheriff’s office.

Russell said Wednesday night that a dispatcher was up for disciplinary action if any comment of that sort was made. “Sheriff Davey runs a professional operation. We don’t allow that sort of thing,” he said.

Andrei did not attend the Wednesday night meeting.

Selectmen noted that Andrei was speaking for himself, not for the board.

While Russell “guaranteed” that stepped up patrols would continue, Sheriff Davey said his fleet was getting older because new cruisers were eliminated as budget considerations.

“They break down as fast as we fix them,” Davey said.

The Lucia Beach section of Owls Head is another persistent problem, similar to the Washington beach situation, Davey said. When patrols chase people out of the beach, they simply move to the Owls Head Lighthouse or another secluded area.

Selectmen said they would discuss hiring a contracted deputy, but endorsed the Crime Watch idea for the immediate future.

“It’s a start,” Russell said. “Let’s see where it leads.”