Juvenile crime in Pine Plains a cause for concern

Pine Plains — Though the segue into a talk at Town Hall on Thursday, March 21, might have caused a chuckle, when town Supervisor Darrah Cloud said she wanted to discuss “juvenile shenanigans,” she was dead serious.

Pine Plains Police Officer-in-Charge John Hughes led the conversation.

“There are kids at 2 a.m.,” he said, “and we’ve been getting a few reports of 12 year olds, 14 year olds, milling around town at 2 or 3 in the morning. A couple have been seen on the bank’s [surveillance] cameras checking out some car doors.”

The youngsters, according to Hughes, have been fiddling around with car door handles looking for easy targets. In one instance, a vehicle was stolen and taken on a joy ride.

“The most we can do with juveniles,” said Hughes, “is to call the parents. And the parents don’t care.”

“Well, if they’re out at 2 in the morning,” said Cloud, they probably don’t — acknowledging there is a lack of parental guidance and supervision.

“We can call Child Protective Services,” said Hughes, adding he dislikes doing so if there are other options. “During the weekends, we will have overnight patrols. It’s the only thing we can do.”

“I like the idea of having a night officer every once in a while,” said town Councilman Rory Chase. “It’s good to do, though not all the time because then it gets repetitive.”

Cloud again mentioned the “robberies of motor vehicles,” and said if they are going to try a door handle, and it’s open, “they’re going to go into it.”

According to Recreation Director Catherine Prentice, the youth who stole the car earlier this month was 11 years old. Later reports put the youth at 12 years old, though because of the suspect’s juvenile status, police could not confirm the age of the child or details of the report.

According to Hughes, the New York State Police are handling the incident with the latest car theft.

“It’s really hard with juveniles,” he said. “And they just raised the age [of juveniles in New York State] to 17. One juvenile we just arrested on felony charges, and his name comes up all the time.”

Cloud said considering such information, having a night patrol is “a really good idea then.”