Rural crime appears to be on the rise

By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher

Here at the County Line, we have accumulated quite an archive of local history. Folks clean out the attic, bundle up the stuff that is hogging space but is too good for the landfill, and deposit it here. And we also have stuff that I collect all on my own: old newspaper clippings, photographs, bits of memorabilia I find at auctions (why did I buy that?) — well, you know how it goes.

Last week I was rummaging through some information on the Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was located just north of Ontario, on Highway 131. This brought to mind the late Jim Bavetta, one of more than a dozen CCC boys who settled in the area. Bavetta was no stranger to hard times. Before Uncle Sam offered him the opportunity to plant trees and work on conservation projects, he was keeping body and soul together during the Great Depression by hopping on trains in Illinois and selling apples to passengers. Most of those young CCC men ended up trading in their picks and shovels for rifles and a chance to tour the world courtesy of the United States Army. Camp Ontario closed in 1940, just prior to the beginning of World War II.

Something about the Kickapoo Valley must have resonated with him, because he came back to Ontario after the war and spent nearly all of his life here, only moving to Tomah a few years prior to his death. Among other endeavors, he owned a restaurant and served as the town constable.

The dictionary defines constable as “an officer of the peace, having police and minor judicial functions, usually in a small town.”

Our small towns don’t have constables anymore. They have police chiefs, even though their chiefdom consists primarily of overseeing the occasional part-time officer.

I am rather fond of the term “constable.” It implies someone more approachable than “police chief,” which sounds way too militaristic for me.

I don’t know what training constables underwent, but I suspect it was very little compared with that of the modern-day police chief. My guess is that they did not carry guns either, and they certainly did not have access to modern technology such as tasers, police radios or even squad cars.

Those of my generation tell tales of trying to outwit Bavetta while tipping over outhouses and, I imagine, sipping a cold one under the bridges. I have no knowledge of how effective Bavetta was at policing, but I do know that few teens of my day were up to tackling a World War II vet, so he probably did a fine job.

He also lived in the community, something that seems to have gone by the wayside. In fact, it has been quite a few years since any of the local small villages had a local person running the cop shop. One can argue both sides of the issue. On one hand, the person who lives out of town ought to be less likely to make exceptions for friends or the town’s perceived elite. On the other hand, the cop who lives in town may have more of a vested interest in keeping his or her home territory crime-free and clean. In either case, as opposed to a large municipality, where the wall seems higher between elected officials and law enforcement, it appears more likely for the town cop to fall into the role of a stooge for the village board.

County Line readers might think crime is on the upswing. Certainly some criminal incidents would appall an old-time constable such as Jim Bavetta.

How bad is it? We really don’t know. Very little effort and money is spent on studying rural crime. We like to think that crime is an urban problem and that here in the country, we all live in Mayberry RFD, where no one locks their doors and everyone can walk the streets late at night without fear.

That may be a figment of our imagination. Compared with cities, rural areas do look like a haven of safety. But according to the National Rural Crime Prevention Center at Ohio State University, rural crime is escalating and it is serious.

Compared with urban areas, rural areas have a far fewer violent crimes; e.g., murder, rape and armed robbery. However, though violent crimes increased just 0.02 percent in urban areas during the 1990s, violent rural crime increased 5.1 percent.

Although violent crime is still relatively rare in rural areas, nonviolent crimes are on the increase. Vandalism, theft, drug use, drunken driving, spousal and child abuse and all manner of property crimes are escalating.

Even life out on the range is no protection. It is estimated that each year one-third to one-half of all farms and ranches experience at least one act of theft of cattle, machinery or other items.

None of this should come as any surprise. The factors that promote urban crime are in evidence in rural areas: broken families, poverty, loss of influence by church and family, and a sense that opportunity is no longer within grasp.

The day is gone when law enforcement in small towns was just an afterthought. The police officer may be the most crucial position in a village. Not only do they need to be well trained, but they also must place the same importance on the towns they serve as they would their own backyards.

And backing them up must be the elected officials’ political will. Sadly, too many board members are content to show up at a meeting, do the basic housekeeping, and rush off to the Packer game. Too often their knowledge of the ordinances is weak and their determination to enforce them is weaker still.

This indifference contributes to towns’ deterioration, and they will ultimately evolve into places that no respectable person would want to live in. And with that come slumping property values and a decline in adequate revenue to provide public services, which in turn makes the town less attractive to potential residents.

It’s a vicious circle that will not be interrupted without leadership with enough spine to rise to the occasion and turn things around.

Will that happen?

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