Drug and dilapidation problems trigger acrid debate in Brownsville
BROWNSVILLE – Councilman Scott Rohrer, accepting some of the blame for the borough’s drug problem and dilapidation, abruptly left Tuesday’s council meeting after addressing citizen comments and expressing his own frustration. “It’s just as much my fault as it is the mayor’s, probably more mine,” said Rohrer, chairman of the public safety committee, admitting that the borough has a serious drug problem. “There is a problem. Police are scared. They are not going to go up there. Our police are scared, and some of them should be fired.”
Rohrer also said that the borough’s code-enforcement officer should be fired.
“Woody Nicholson should be fired. Police should be suspended. I’m sick and tired of this. …People in for the Fourth (of July) said that Brownsville looks terrible. It’s disgusting,” he said, before he walked out of the meeting to claps and cheers from residents in the audience.
Rohrer’s comments came after Nena Kaminsky addressed the board about current drug activity in the borough. She said she and about 50 other residents have formed a citizen action group, Brownsville Citizens Against Drugs (BCAD), and will go to the homes of drug-traffickers themselves if police won’t.
Last month, resident Stella Broadwater asked the council to impeach Mayor Norma Ryan for failure to oversee the police department.
During Tuesday’s meeting, both Broadwater and Kaminsky said they and the group will take matters into their own hands.
Kaminsky said that, last month, council advised her to contact the drug task force if she saw any drug activity, but she said her calls were never answered and she got no response to messages.
She complained that police patrol the streets for speeding vehicles, but ignore drug activity.
“We just had another shooting this weekend. We’ve had stabbing, shootings, killings. What’s it going to take?” Kaminsky said.
She said the only time police make drug arrests in Brownsville is during election season. She added that she is worried that the closing of two housing projects in Uniontown will mean more criminal activity in Brownsville, as Uniontown residents are transported to the borough’s housing projects.
Council president Jack Lawver said police are now doing foot patrols to have a more visible presence in the borough.
“It’s not just traffic citations. We have to work with the court system, and the system is slow. If we don’t obey the law, we’re just as bad as the criminals out there. We have guidelines we have to follow,” Lawver said.
Councilman Tom Bush agreed. He explained that the police cannot just go into someone’s home because a neighbor says there is drug activity there.
“We have to have evidence. We cannot just go into someone’s home,” Bush said. “Criminals don’t have to go by the rules; police do.”
But Kaminsky said police don’t have to go inside to see the activity, but “just sit outside for a couple of minutes.”
Kaminsky estimated that one in every seven houses in the borough has drug activity.
Resident Margo Redd agreed, saying that she finds needles outside her home.
Bush warned Kaminsky and other members of the BCAD to be careful. He said he will go out himself and survey the activity.
“You have to understand the degree of danger. You will be standing in between a man and his money,” Bush said.
But Kaminsky said the group is determined to move the drug dealers out of the community.
“If you’re not going to do the job, we’re going to have to do it ourselves. Like I said, whatever it takes. …They may shoot us, but they can’t take us all out.”
Broadwater said the group will stand in front of homes where there is drug activity with signs reading “Drugs are sold here” or “This is a drug house.”
She said they also will use video cameras to collect evidence of drug activity.
Lawver said the borough police will respond to any complaints, following proper procedure.
He explained that any complaint made to an officer about drug activity or any other criminal activity should be made to the police.
They, in turn, should take it to the mayor, who should then take it to the public safety committee and then to council.
Lawver said that any resident who has a complaint about a police officer should make a formal complaint.
“We have had a crime-watch program in the past. That has helped. It’s a good thing. If we all work together, we can lick this problem.”