Sep 15, 2016 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – At least six communities in Greene County are under consideration to become neighborhood crime watch zones designed to curb the use and sale of illegal drugs.

Members of the Coalition for a Brighter Greene met Thursday afternoon with several police officers from departments across the county to unveil its plan to implement the “Greene Zones” watch groups while also asking how they can help local law enforcement fight crime.

“If we’re not collaborating or working together with other organizations – we’re not flying solo here – then we’re not carrying out the mission of the coalition,” said Jonathan Johnson, the coalition’s treasurer.

Johnson said the coalition’s pilot communities for its “Greene Zones” are Nemacolin, Crucible, Rices Landing, Bobtown, Clarksville and the West Greene grange area.

The coalition, which launched late last year following a town hall meeting in October to discuss the opioid epidemic in the area, is rolling out the zones after hearing feedback from various community leaders interested in starting neighborhood watch groups in those areas. The “Greene Zones” are a way for neighbors to work together, while informing police of issues, Johnson said.

“It’s our problem, so that means we all need to address it,” he said.

Officers from Waynesburg, Cumberland Township, Carmichaels, state police and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office attended the 90-minute meeting in the law library of the courthouse and spoke about how communities and police departments can work together.

“There’s a myth in Greene County that nothing (bad) will ever happen here,” said state police Sgt. Steve Dowlin, commander of the barracks near Waynesburg. “We can’t live in the naïve world that nothing can’t happen. We also don’t need to live in the paranoid world.”

Dowlin walked the coalition through typical guidelines for neighborhood crime watch groups, how they function and what typically works to foster participation. He stressed that the coalition should not be discouraged if meetings don’t have large participation because the process takes time to build a core group.

“The reality is the community is our eyes and ears. We can’t do it without you,” Dowlin said. “We’re not the best crime-fighting tool. You are. We need you.”

But he added that people participating in neighborhood watch groups should not apprehend suspects or intervene during suspicious activity.

“That’s our job,” he said.

Greene County Sheriff Brian Tennant suggested the coalition speak to state legislators about giving sheriff’s deputies policing powers in Pennsylvania. Deputies typically serve warrants and transport prisoners, but cannot investigate crimes.

“We’re already trained,” Tennant said. “We have the capability and desire. We just don’t have the (legal) authority. As sheriff, I want to help, but we’re shackled as we watch our community continue to fall into peril.”

Waynesburg police Chief Rob Toth raised concerns about “doctor-shopping” that leads to the prevalence of prescription drugs that are sold illegally and how it impedes officers from stopping the drug trade.

“It’s frustrating,” Toth said. “Why does this keep going on?”

Cumberland Township police Sgt. Bryan Smith said they have issues with recycling the same people through the system and though there should be harsher punishment for those who sell those drugs as a deterrent.

“We’re in an uphill battle against drugs,” he said. “We spend a lot of resources on investigations … but they’re just going through the court system. Something needs to be done.”

On the other side of the bench, Greene County Judge Farley Toothman suggested the coalition needs to find ways to reconnect addicts with support groups and the community, although he did not offer suggestions on how police officers can help those people make the connections.

“We can isolate them. We can incarcerate them,” Toothman said. “And then we wonder why they’re selling drugs again two years later.”

Thursday’s meeting comes just weeks before there will be another town hall meeting Oct. 6 at the county courthouse to garner more community feedback about the drug issue.

Johnson suggested anyone interested in starting a Greene Zone in their neighborhood or participating in the ones planned for the six communities should send an email to CoalitionBrighterGreene@gmail.com.