Lieutenant Dominick Blasko says he was always interested in the law and the idea of protecting society, even from a young age. His family moved to the Town of Crawford in the mid-70s and he remembers that a local police officer visited the family to welcome them to the area.

"Unfortunately, we can't do that anymore, much as I'd like to," he laments. "The town has grown and we just don't have the personnel."

Blasko grew up admiring the local police officers. "I remember thinking that they had a great job. I think I learned a lot from the way they did things. Of course, police work here is not the same thing as it is in a big city. Still, it has its challenges, and we have to be responsive to them. But those officers inspired me, I'd say."

His interest in police work soon led to employment.

"I started out as a civilian dispatcher in Walden, then I became an officer in the Town of Lloyd, where I went to the police academy. And then I came back to the Town of Crawford when a job opened up."

That was in 1993, and Dominick Blasko was barely 22. He's been on the job here ever since.

"I always thought of it as a way of giving back to the community, and I've enjoyed my work here — I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Asked about the changes he's seen since the early 90s, Blasko points to the growth of the district.

"The major growth took place from 2000 on. After that point there was a huge jump in numbers. Traffic volume went up in a big way, and so did the numbers of just about everything we deal with. Aside from the traffic stuff, we deal with a lot of service calls, domestic disputes, that sort of thing. On occasion we do get more serious crimes. Since I've been here, about fifteen years now, there have been three or four homicides."

Which brings up the question: what kinds of crimes are the Town of Crawford Police dealing with more often today?

"Most of our non-traffic cases are mischief to property cases, and occasionally we have car thefts," he says. "But we also see more burglary. Recently we had a case where a group of people were working together as burglars. It's something that, sadly, we have to expect when there's a downturn in the economy. However, the biggest change has been that we have an increase in fraud-type cases, in particular with identity theft."

In case you thought that local police couldn't deal with that one, Blasko is quick to reassure. "Oh, we're well networked now all over the country. We have connections everywhere. I could call someone in North Carolina, or California, or anywhere, when it comes to something like that.

"The days of us having one cop on duty in the town are long gone.

"As far as problems at the high school go," continues the lieutenant, "the thing we have to remember is that the high school is a little city in itself. It's bound to have issues and some problems. But we have a good relationship with the high school, and we've worked hard to reduce the sorts of stresses that can produce violence there. Of course, there's always going to be a few fights. I think people too easily forget that there were always school yard fights, going back to whenever schools began. They've always happened and probably always will. But we have to keep that kind of thing to a minimum, and protect the students, and probably the biggest thing of all is keeping outside influences from coming in. People ask if there are gangs at the high school, and really what there is is minimal. Now, we have seen real gang members, but as transients through the town. They have all the signs on them and we spot them and they don't stay.

"Generally speaking it's the same as with any kind of crime. Criminals get more sophisticated and we have to get more sophisticated too. On the positive side I'd point to the success of the 'Law and Leadership Program' at the high school. A program like that can be a real help in promoting responsibility. I think we can be justifiably proud of our school-based initiatives."

When it comes to a wish list, Lieutenant Blasko's is actually pretty short.

"We could really use an officer dedicated to investigations. Not that we can't investigate cases now, but having someone dedicated to that would expand our abilities in that area and make it more timely."

COMMENTS about this article (0)