Joanne Czeczot said there has always been some crime in her neighborhood in the North End of Ansonia.
But the morning she woke up and saw her neighbor’s car tires slashed and windows broken, Czeczot jumped to action.
“That’s what made me say, ‘This isn’t right,’” Czeczot said about the vandalism.
This fall, Czeczot started rounding up neighbors in the North End — the side roads branching off from North Main Street — to start the city’s second neighborhood block watch.
Fueled by the success a block watch formed in 2009 in the fourth and fifth wards, Czeczot hopes to organize residents in the North End to watch out for each other as vandalism and crime continues to spread through their neighborhoods.
“I sent out fliers, concentrated on Morningside, Savelle and Roosevelt,” Czeczot said. “I asked people if they were interested in started a block watch. I got 15 names, mostly people on my street.”
Czeczot said in the past year, residents have noticed more vandalism in the neighborhood — things such as racial slurs spay painted and broken car windows.
Near the Liberty Pine Condominiums, residents have complained about open drug deals happening on the corner, and dealers trying to sell to people waiting for the school bus.
Jennifer Drauss, another founding member of the North End’s block watch, said she has been approached while waiting at the bus stop by people asking if she wants to buy acid.
First ward Alderman Robert Duffus said growing up in the northern part of town in the 1980s was “pretty rough.”
“It wasn’t Compton. It wasn’t God awful,” Duffus said. “But it was tough.”
Duffus said the 1980s had a lot of drug and gang crimes, but that in recent years it has been cleaned up. Click here for a report on 2010 Ansonia crime stats.
But lately, he’s noticed the steady vandalism and car break-ins too.
“Everyone is on high alert, and trying to stop the trend before it happens,” Duffus said.
An Example
Residents on the city’s west side rallied against similar crime in their neighborhoods in the fall of 2009.
Ed Norman, a member of the city’s tax board and volunteer firefighter, led the group as they gained volunteers, received grant money and posted signs. Some meetings have attracted up to 50 people, Norman said.
“It’s the same problems across the different block watches, whether it’s break-ins, suspicious cars, kids out there vandalizing and hanging out,” Norman said. “It’s everyday things that you see, that are suspicious. Let’s stop it before it becomes an epidemic.”
The west side block watch — made up of residents from the city’s fourth and fifth wards — helped police track down drug activity in one neighborhood.
And, Norman says, he believes the active neighbors have helped prevent burglaries.
Czeczot said she is looking toward Norman’s example when setting up the North End block watch.
“We’re mimicking what they did,” Czeczot said.
Norman said he applies for grants for the Ansonia Block Watch, so all groups that form in the city will be able to take advantage of a shared website, refrigerator magnets and block watch signs.
Working With Police
The block watch works with Detective Gerald Tenney and police Officer Rick Esposito.
The two act as links to the Ansonia Police Department — giving a name to the police for residents to feel comfortable calling, and providing follow up on actions to help with crime in the neighborhoods.
Esposito said the partnership works because the residents see and hear what’s happening in their neighborhoods all the time.
“We can’t be everywhere,” Esposito said.
Then, through calls and meetings, the police department is better able to target problem areas.
“These are people that are reaching out to us,” Norman said of the police officers. “They’ll take our calls. Provide us with information. It’s building a good relationship between the residents and the police department.”
The North End block watch plans to hold its next meeting in March. For more information, contact Czeczot by e‑mail at [email protected].
