Police provide info at North Side event

By Sean Barron

Many programs are in place to reach out to senior citizens, one participant said.

Have you ever wondered how a robot is able to neutralize a potentially explosive situation, or wanted to get a sense of how a police dog and its handler interact?

These and other demonstrations and exhibits provided the answers at the second annual Criminal Justice Fair on Youngstown’s North Side.

A few hundred people attended Saturday’s five-hour event at Heart Reach Ministries, 211 Redondo Road. The Youngstown Northside Weed & Seed initiative sponsored the free program where residents could meet and speak to criminal justice representatives, including police officers, prosecutors and judicial and corrections officials.

Patrolman Josh Kelly, a member of Youngstown Police Department’s K-9 unit, showed how his 3-year-old canine partner, Helo, is able to sniff for and detect narcotics.

Police canines are used in high-risk situations, in part to save officers’ lives, Kelly said, adding that the dogs are trained to bite and hold, not maul, certain suspects.

“We try to minimize the amount of damage inflicted,” Kelly said.

Also speaking to the large crowd was Youngstown officer Greg Miller, one of the department’s six-member bomb squad.

Miller demonstrated how a robot is used to detect and handle a suspicious suitcase while a monitor watches and controls the device. The department’s only robot is used a few times a year and has X-ray capabilities, he explained.

“The robot’s parts are replaceable, mine aren’t,” he added.

The fair featured booths with pamphlets from numerous local agencies. Participants picked up literature on topics such as preventing domestic violence, being safe on dates and preparing pets for emergencies. Also available was information on programs offered by the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center as well as general health, anger management, conflict resolution and preventing bullying.

The Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department works closely with agencies geared toward helping senior citizens, noted Kay Lavelle, the department’s senior services unit coordinator.

One of the unit’s main functions is to check on and assist seniors living alone who have short-term problems, such as their furnace malfunctioning in winter, Lavelle explained. The 2-year-old program also takes agency referrals on behalf of older people who need long-term situations addressed, she continued.

Services include a placement program for senior citizens who need a dog or cat for companionship. Also provided is temporary pet foster care for seniors who refuse to go to the hospital, fearing no one will take care of their animals, Lavelle noted.

“A lot of seniors don’t realize the services that are there to help them,” she said.

For more information about the program, call Lavelle at (330) 480-5078.

It’s no coincidence that areas with a Weed & Seed initiative also see a drop in crime, noted Peter French, a community resource specialist with the U.S. attorney’s office in Cleveland, which oversees 12 such initiatives in Northeast Ohio.

Weed & Seed collaboratives work with police and the community, combining law enforcement and social services to focus on neighborhoods with a high incidence of prostitution, drugs and gang activity, French pointed out. The closely monitored initiatives also encourage people to clean up their neighborhoods to make the areas less attractive for criminals, he said.

One of the main purposes of the fair was to give police and the community an opportunity to interact with each other in positive ways, explained Terri Bryant, a Weed & Seed coordinator.

It also was set up to show the public some of the training that police officers have to undergo on a regular basis, Chief Jimmy Hughes noted. For example, members of the bomb squad are required to go every two or three years to a special school in Huntsville, Ala., to keep up their certification, he said.

The criminal justice fair had games, prizes and activities for children, and also featured a doughnut-eating contest with six participants.

The winner was 18-year-old Louis Jones of Youngstown, a member of YouthBuild of Mahoning County, a nine-month construction-based program that helps those age 18 to 24 earn their high school diplomas. For eating six doughnuts in three minutes, Jones received a plaque.