Be Careful What You Wish For

To the Editor:

This letter is in response to the recent rash of noise complaints around town. I have had contact with the police department regarding complaints involving a pair of ATVs (all terrain vehicles) I own. Let me begin by saying the police officers I have encountered to date have been pleasant, helpful, and just as frustrated as I am.

It seems there are a handful of people in my area who dial 911 at the first sound of a lawn mower, motorcycle, ATV, or just about any other motorized contraption, then go down to the station to make sure the operators of these machines have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

My meeting with law enforcement while riding with my 17-year-old-son on private land that we had permission to be on infuriated me. I pointed out to the officer how almost every month another high school student overdoses from heroin or any number of drugs readily available in the school and how maybe the department should be concentrating on that issue instead of harassing us. The officer pointed out to me that the few blocks we had traveled to arrive at this land is what caused the complaint calls. I explained to him that keeping high school kids out of trouble these days is nearly impossible, so we try to get involved by involving ourselves with any interests they have that are safe and that we can supervise, and that when we ride, I know where he is and what he’s doing. The officer agreed with me, pointed out that the last thing he and most of his co-workers want to do is drive around town every time a lawnmower starts, but the simple fact of the matter is these same handful of people insist on making these complaints and they [the police] have to act on them even though they have more important issues to deal with.

My point is this: over the course of putting my two sons through high school in Newtown, there have been almost 20 of their classmates who have either died, overdosed, been through rehab multiple times, landed in jail, or have killed themselves for drug-related reasons; clearly it is far easier for school-age kids to find trouble or maybe more appropriately for trouble to find them, than it is for them to stay out of it. Making it harder for parents and more importantly, the police department, to do their job, isn’t helping. I live close to the train tracks; the train is noisy and it always comes through town late, I don’t like the noise, but I like being able to go to the store down the road to get what I need, so I live with it. We have a great police department here, let them do their job, we’ll all benefit from it.

John Cascone, Jr

37 Turkey Hill Road, Newtown                              August 24, 2004