Riled over Camp Cass
Residents upset after latest escape



RENSSELAERVILLE — An escape Saturday from the Cass Residential Center has re-awakened fear in local residents, and public officials are re-examining policies and procedures.

A 15-year-old Cass resident broke into the nearby home of Robert Johnston, destroyed property, and stole money and a vehicle, police say.

The Albany County Sheriff’s Department and State Troopers pursued him. The fleeing youth made it to his home in Poughkeepsie (Dutchess County) before being turned in to authorities by his father on Sunday.

The incident is the seventh reported to authorities from the correctional facility in a two-year span. The facility is run by the state’s Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS).
"I was pissed. There’s no question about it," Robert Johnston told The Enterprise.

The perpetrator, he said, stole $50 from his wife’s purse, broke a windowpane in his garage, and stole his Ford Explorer.

Johnston didn’t discover the theft until Sunday morning when he found his SUV missing.

Since Sunday, Johnston has been locking his doors and keeps a loaded gun by his bed.
"I never used to lock my doors, but now I am. I never knew where the bullets to the gun were, but I can tell you where they are now," Johnston said.
"The director came to see me Sunday night," Johnston said. He appreciated the visit from Cass’s Tim Kelso, he said, but the visit did not alleviate his fears or change the way Johnston felt about the incident.
"He was in my house," Johnston emphasized of the escaped youth. Johnston said Kelso assured him that the escapee was a "good boy," but Johnston still wanted to research the matter.
"I’m not prejudiced. I love kids. I have grandchildren, but I want to see the history of this boy. I’m going to find out more," Johnston said.

Johnston said the Cass facility does not have a fence, and that the reverse 911 call sent out to surrounding residents following the incident was misleading and didn’t reach all of his neighbors.
"The call said there was a 15-year-old boy up on Cheese Hill," he said. "It would have been better if it had said, ‘a resident of Camp Cass.’"
Johnston was also perturbed because, although police "caught the kid" and found his Explorer just hours after he reported it missing at 8:30 on Sunday morning, he had been without his vehicle for four days, he said on Wednesday. He said police told him he can pick it up Thursday.

Johnston said he no longer feels safe about his proximity to the correctional facility.
"Maybe 20 years ago, this was a great idea," he said. "Now, you’ve got a different element," Johnston said, adding that he thinks the boys at the facility are "harder."

Johnston, who has lived in Rensselaerville for eight years, is from Long Island, and said he moved upstate because he thought he’d be safer in the country.
"It’s called ‘Camp’ Cass," he said. "I don’t think that’s right. It should be called Cass ‘Prison’ now."
"I’m not saying you’ve got to get rid of the camp. But you’ve got to make it safe," he said. Johnston also said that he and his wife used to donate to Camp Cass.
"Now, I wouldn’t go near the place," he said.

Rape survivor petitions

In July, 2005, Michael Elston, who escaped from the facility in late December, 2004, was convicted of first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping, for forcing a 51-year-old female kitchen worker from Camp Cass into an office and forcibly raping her.

He then forced her at knife-point into her car; she escaped when he stopped to make a phone call, police have said.
"A lot of people are up in arms," the rape victim told The Enterprise Wednesday about the lack of security at the center. The Enterprise is withholding her name because she is the victim of a sex crime.

The woman, a Rensselaerville resident, has been circulating a petition since this summer, which, she said, calls for the facility to be more accountable, a fence to be erected around the compound, and added locks.

The petition, she said, was signed by an additional 30 concerned residents Wednesday morning, and a total of about 550 residents have signed.

OCFS spokesman Brian Marchetti said the agency will begin a project, which will include new basketball courts, a greenhouse, and a recreational fence around the perimeter of the facility. The project, he said, is anticipated to begin in the spring of 2007.

The woman said that the project is not good enough, and would not result in added security.
"I got raped 50 feet from a guard," she said.
"I’m going to present the petition to the town. I’m going to mail it to Senator Neil Breslin; and District Assemblyman Jack McEneny; Sandy Gordon, the county legislator, and whoever else I can think of," she said.

Town Assessor Jeff Pine, who lives near Camp Cass, said he has never been worried about living nearby until recently. Pine recalled walking into the facility in the mid-1970’s when he needed to use a phone and did not feel threatened.
"I’ve never been worried about it," he said, "but it’s getting spooky."
"There’s been uproar here," Supervisor Jost Nickelsberg told The Enterprise.
"You’ve got to set these kids up for success," Nickelsberg said of residents at Camp Cass. "The kids have had problems, and we’ve got to try and rehab and help them to be good citizens, but there’s minimal security up there with just locks and cameras," he said.

Nickelsberg cited multiple prior escapes from Camp Cass, and said the facility has not made sufficient measures to deter its residents from escaping.
Nickelsberg, referring to the 2004 rape, said, "A wonderful lady was raped, kidnapped and abducted. That’s tragedy."
He concluded, "That’s enough."

Re-examining the reverse call
According to Albany County Sheriff James Campbell, Camp Cass reported to his department around 6:45 p.m. on Saturday. The sheriff’s department responded with a county emergency notification, referred to as a "reverse 911 call." The call went out to neighboring residents around 9:15 p.m., but the call did not contain the necessary information, he said.
"The call should have said, ‘a resident escaped from Camp Cass," Campbell said. Instead, it said the missing 15-year-old was last seen in the area of Cheese Hill.

Campbell said the department is careful about its selection in issuing a reverse 911 call, adding that the department doesn’t want to cause undue alarm.

The reverse 911 call, he said, has been used in cases involving missing children and gas leaks.
"A message is recorded into the computer, and the software targets neighboring residencies and businesses," Campbell said, explaining how the system works.

The database lists up to 18,000 locations per minute, and calls 24 locations per minute, Campbell said.

The system prints out a report of who is called, who received the reverse 911 call, and who did not, he said.

According to the report, approximately 2,000 locations were in the database and supposed to be called Saturday evening; the system reported 420 successful notifications.

Campbell added that some people were not home and some hung up. The system, he said, is capable of leaving messages on answering machines.

If a phone is busy, the emergency notification system calls the number once more.
"I will be the first to say it’s not a perfect system," Campbell said.

Campbell also said that the sheriff’s department hasn’t seen problems to this extent before, and that the system for issuing an emergency notice to neighbors has been in place for about three years.
"The message was an error on the part of my personnel," Campbell said.