Boardman takes a proactive approach to fighting crime

The city of Youngstown's crime epidemic illustrates what can happen to a community that lets its guard down when it comes to law and order. Over the years, for a variety of reasons, city administrations have talked tough about taking the fight to the criminals, but their actions have rarely matched their words.
With each new administration, we editorially urge a zero-tolerance crime policy and advocate such initiatives as assigning more uniformed police officers to the streets, walking beats in high-crime neighborhoods and even satellite police stations to have law enforcement presence in certain parts of the city 24/7. Mayors have adopted some of those ideas, but much to the community's detriment such commitments have been short-lived.
Thus today, Youngstown again finds itself on the defensive. There are streets where residents, especially the elderly, are virtual prisoners in their own homes. Gun battles in some neighborhoods are a common occurrence.
That reality, coupled with the lack of jail space for criminals who should be behind bars, make the goal of a crime-free city all the more difficult to accomplish.
Boardman Township, which has launched a proactive campaign in the face of a moderate crime rate, would do well to learn from Youngstown's mistakes. Why? Because once criminals worm their way into a community, it becomes extremely difficult to get rid of them completely. And criminals destroy stable neighborhoods, as honest Youngstown officials will readily admit.
Boardman is taking the proper approach to nipping this potential plague in the bud, but trustees and the police department must recognize that a long-term commitment is essential.
Street crimes unit
Police Chief Jeffrey Patterson has targeted the north end of the township -- it has seen a steady rise in residential burglaries, business break-ins, stolen vehicles and car break-ins -- with neighborhood traffic enforcement and a street crimes unit. And sometime in October, a police substation will be open for business at 5000 Market St. The fully equipped station will be manned by a supervisor, three officers assigned to traffic, two detectives, one assigned to burglaries and the other to auto theft, a crime prevention officer and three or four officers who will patrol the north end.
"You have to draw a line," Patterson says of his crime-fighting campaign. "It just makes sense; this is the older area of the township and the area that would decline first."
The police chief has drawn a line that can easily be seen, but it will begin to fade if township officials don't remain as steadfast as they are today in refusing to let the criminals get the upper hand.
Residents of Boardman and other communities that surround the city of Youngstown are now seeing what urban experts who studied the area for years warned would occur if there wasn't a regional approach to fighting crime. It's only a matter of time before criminals from Youngstown go after more lucrative targets in the suburbs, they said.
Boardman Township is taking the proper approach, but officials need to remain vigilant and understand that this is a fight they must not lose.
A satellite police station is not only good law enforcement and good public relations, but it sends a message to the region that crime is a top priority in the township. If only Youngstown's city fathers had been as diligent over the years.