City of Dunkirk sees spike in juvenile crime, police urge parents to step up

Within the past month, Dunkirk Police responded to seven separate incidents, including trespassing, robbery, assault and more. All seven involved kids between 13 and 15 years old.

When we have a teenager doing crimes that are serious in nature, more than 123 times, it becomes an issue that we feel that parents should be involved and aware of what's going on. Dunkirk Chief of Police Douglas Swizer said.

In September, officers responded to Dunkirk City High School, where two girls, 13 and 15, were found allegedly trespassing. According to the release, the 13-year-old allegedly refused to leave, physically resisted officers and threatened school staff.

Two weeks later, juvenile suspects were involved in a reported home invasion. One resident was allegedly stabbed. Charges in the case are pending.

Four days later, four boys, 15, 14, 14 and 13, were petitioned to Family Court after officers found them attempting to steal property from a local business. In this case, the parents, Loren E. Duman, 38, Luz M. Hyatt, 40, Maria C. Ramos, 40 and Felicia Quinones, 46, were each charged with endangering the welfare of a child (failure to exercise control).

The two 14-year-old boys, believed to be the same from a previous burglary attempt, were then involved in an alleged assault and robbery. One juvenile was petitioned to Family Court on charges of second-degree robbery, criminal obstruction of breathing, third-degree criminal mischief and obstructing governmental administration. The second was petitioned on charges of second-degree robbery and second-degree obstructing governmental administration.

Additionally, the parents, Duman and Ramos, were charged with endangering the welfare of a child (failure to exercise control) and issued more appearance tickets.

That same day, officers responded to a report of a package being stolen from a residential porch, where a 13-year-old female was identified and subsequently petitioned to Family Court on a charge of Petit Larceny. Mark J. Wieczorek, 60, was charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child (failure to exercise control).

Swizer said the spike is something other communities have been dealing with in recent months. However, the severity of crimes being committed is what led to the call to action for the community.

"Education is our big thing. Again, Dunkirk is a great place. It's a great city, and we're not dealing with anything that other communities don't, but we do want to educate." Swizer continued, "We want to educate, so if you have a question, flag one of us down, stop down at our police department here, and we'll be more than happy to talk to you." "We can't arrest our way out of this situation," Swizer added.

I reached out to the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Chautauqua County to learn more. However, no one from the organization was available to speak with us. A representative with the club did note that programs are offered to kids between 5 and 12 years old. A larger facility for the club is in the works, and once completed, they hope to expand to programs for older kids.

While resources are available, Swizer said that real change starts with parents.

"It's not all about being buddies with your children. You still have to be the parent. You still have to make the hard decisions. So we encourage them to sit them down, talk to them, have a relationship with them, but understand that there has to be a mutual respect thing there too.