Town awaits decision on deputy foot patrols

ELIZABETHTOWN -- Essex County lawmakers say an offer to pay for Sheriff's Department foot patrols in Keeseville's downtown needs further review.

Sheriff Henry Hommes notified the Essex County Board of Supervisors that the Village of Keeseville is willing to pay $10,000 to put deputy sheriffs on foot patrol in the business district.

But Supervisor Thomas Scozzafava (R-Moriah) said there are many unanswered questions about such a deployment.

"(For) additional patrols, are we going to need additional employees? Are the taxpayers of Keeseville paying twice, because they're also paying for that service from their taxes?"

MEETING MONDAY

Hommes said it might be best to bring the request up at County Finance Committee, which Scozzafava chairs, for further discussion.

That committee meets at 10:30 a.m. Monday in the old County Courthouse at Elizabethtown.

The final decision will be up to the Board of Supervisors, Hommes said.

"It's your (supervisors) call whether we do that or not. Since it's a monetary issue, maybe we should bring it before Finance Committee."

PROBLEMS IN VILLAGE

The Keeseville Village Board has requested the periodic patrols mainly at night on Front Street, the village's main street. The Village Board says youths are again hanging out downtown, vandalizing properties and creating noise and other problems.

Village Trustee Bradley Knapp said some youths loiter downtown in the summer and commit crimes. Keeseville does not have its own police department, and a State Police substation in the village will be closing soon.

Supervisor Gerald Morrow (D-Chesterfield) said the $10,000 offered by the village was originally to hire a security force to patrol downtown.

"It (security patrols) had no effect whatsoever a few years ago. They had no police powers. They were basically civilians on patrol."