BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week

MASSENA — Massena police continue to be one of the busiest agencies in the North Country and September showed no sign of letting up.

During his monthly report to village trustees, Chief of Police Jason Olson detailed the vast number of calls his officers responded to during the month.

According to Olson, patrol officers responded to 707 incidents, which included 30 traffic stops. Twenty-two uniform traffic citations were issued, while 11 mental health arrests were made, along with 31 penal law arrests.

Officers also responded to 13 motor vehicle accidents.

Detectives were also very busy with the department, taking on an additional 24 cases on top of existing cases they are working on, while also making 13 felony arrests for criminal possession of a controlled substance, two felony arrests for criminal sale of a controlled substance, one felony arrest for criminal possession of a weapon and eight arrests for second-degree criminal possession of controlled substances.

Through the course of investigations police recovered 495 grams of crack cocaine, 440 fentanyl packets, 76 grams of fentanyl, 65.5 grams of methamphetamine and two illegal handguns.

Police seized $7,599 in U.S. currency while also carrying out four search warrants in the village and assisting the county drug task force on two others around the county.

Despite calls rising 25% compared to the month of August, residents are asking the department to do more.

Shawn Gray, a Massena resident, raised concerns over the growing drug problem facing Massena.

Gray detailed a recent overdose near his home, after which “they carried the person out in a body bag.”

“I understand that day there were eight doses of Narcan used for Mortgage Hill to Liberty Avenue. We have a real problem in this community, and we’re kind of burying our head in the sand about it, I think. The chief is doing yeoman’s work as far as he’s got a person specifically for that,” he said.

“We’re very well aware of the problem that we have. As a matter of fact, so much so that a week or two ago we had a discussion about it and I have discussions about it monthly if not weekly with the other chiefs in the county,” Olson said.

Olson described the drug problem as “trying to push the ocean back with a broom,” telling trustees and residents that the drug problem continues to worsen despite numerous resources being used to combat the epidemic.

“It is a very, very big problem. St. Lawrence County seems to be hit very, very hard lately with that,” he said.

Olson said the biggest issue is that individuals have free will and the ability to make their own choices about what they want to do and how they want to conduct themselves.

“They’re making these choices and we’re doing everything we can to stop the flow of stuff. I’ve said it before, it’s like trying to push the ocean back with a broom,” he said.

Olson said he has multiple members of his staff solely dedicated just to the drug problem. Multiple investigations are being conducted and felony arrests are made every month, however drugs continue to enter the county, he said.

Gray also inquired if the department had a device to test the level of intoxication an individual may be under from the use of cannabis.

“The only device that we have that measures intoxication is the breathalyzer. But we have drug recognition experts that can tell what type of drug the person has ingested or if they're under the influence. The hospital does have those types of devices but we don't have anything that we carry on the street that will be able to tell us how much they're on. It also varies from person to person too, depending on their tolerance levels,” Olson said.

Olson said the department does have field tests to determine the type of drugs found as well in the event officers obtain unknown substances.

“I know that there is a breathalyzer out there that is being developed. I can't remember what lab, it's one of the major universities (developing it), that can detect what drug the person has ingested within a certain timeframe. But it's not still under development,” Olson said.

Gray also shared an anecdote about a bank teller who told him a customer said they “must have had too many gummies” while sitting in the drive-thru lane.

“I'm concerned. If somebody runs over my grandson, you know, it's just it's gotten crazy,” Gray said.

Gray was critical of cannabis dispensaries potentially coming to the village, saying that it was his belief that cannabis is a gateway drug and that it feels as though “it is almost being encouraged now.”

Gray also spoke to a recent news story that highlighted some clubs offering test kits for users to ensure their cannabis had not been laced with another substance.

“I think the police are doing a great job and you're absolutely right, Chief. It's like trying to push the ocean back with a broom. I hear you. But it seems that oftentimes we seem to be promoting this. We seem to be making it easier for people and that's a reflection I think more on the politicians, not here but on a state and federal level,” Gray said.

Former Mayor Jim Hidy also spoke to the topic, saying the loss of plant jobs in the last 30 years has led to a rise in poverty which also correlates to a rise in crime and drug use. Hidy also touched on a planned green hydrogen facility that will come online in 2026, bringing 90 jobs to Massena.

“I’m hoping with the advent of this plant coming in, it helps increase the rent and such because it's all part of the problem. A lot is poverty driven. I think when we had the plants and everything was going full string, we didn't have the poverty level that we have. These people come up and they prey on the weakest,” Hidy said.

Mayor Greg Paquin commented on the decline of Massena, highlighting a quote from former Deputy Mayor Matt Lebire.

“It was Matt Lebire that said it took 30 years for this sort of decline. And it’s going to take just as long to come back up. It's not going to be overnight. It's going to take us the same time to get back up but we gotta start somewhere. I think that's a really good start,” Paquin said.

Regarding police activity, Hidy also said more could still be done to address speeding in certain areas of the village.

In a previous village board meeting, Hidy questioned the need for a new stop sign on Grove Street that he said would do nothing to deter drivers from speeding.

He once again questioned the need while also calling on the police department to have a regular patrol in the area.

Hidy said he submitted a FOIL request to the police department last month for information regarding and received “some resistance,” which he expected.

“But hopefully it created some awareness that it’s an ongoing issue, particularly again in the Grove. The sign is doing nothing to deter speed, nothing,” Hidy said.

Despite his insistence that police activity in the area had not been sufficient, Olson informed Hidy and trustees that officers had patrolled the area with extra hours spent for a month, with officers in the area every Friday and Saturday from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.