City of Norwich Police Chief Reuben Roach will testify in D.C. this week before a House Small Business Committee hearing and discuss bail reform law, decaying neighborhoods due to drug houses, massive street loitering, and the concerns for safety among other unsettling policies. (Photo by Kelli Miller)

NORWICH — The City of Norwich Police Chief Reuben Roach will be testifying in the U.S. capitol this week before a House Small Business Committee hearing and discussing bail reform law, decaying neighborhoods, relating to the rise of drug houses, massive street loitering, and concerns for safety among other unsettling policies.

U.S. Representative Marc Molinaro (NY-19) invited Roach to the hearing titled, “Crime on the Rise: How Lawlessness is impacting Main Street America.”

Roach, who began his law enforcement career in 2003 as a road patrol deputy with the Chenango County Sheriff's Office, and later transferred to the City of Norwich Police Department in 2005, worked his way through the ranks and in 2023 was appointed as Chief of Police.

“Seeing our neighborhoods deteriorate with drug houses, our business district swarmed with loitering, and arresting the same individuals over and over again, isn't working,” he said.

“Compromising the safety, security, and peace of mind of our residents, by enacting bail reform, has changed our community for the worse,” said Roach. “I look forward to shedding light on these troublesome policies.”

The hearing will start at 10 a.m. on Thursday, January 11, and can be streamed at www.youtube.com/@HouseSmallBiz/streams.

Molinaro said, "Crime has a depressing effect on small businesses, the workers they employ, and our local economy. To have economic opportunity, we must first have safety."

“With Chief Reuben Roach sharing experiences from his 20-plus year career in law enforcement, we aim to shed light on how crime and policies like bail reform negatively impact our local small business economy, and explore solutions to fix this mess,” he said.

The Norwich Common Council met last week to share considerations for new laws that could protect the city and combat the rise of homelessness, neglected properties, drug use and prostitution as business leaders and residents cry for help.

Within the last few years the area has seen a surge of criminal activity. Many issues involve vagrants occupying abandoned buildings or becoming illegal tenants at rental properties.

Residents spoke openly at December public hearing about multiple locations in Norwich that are functioning as drug and prostitution houses.

New York's efforts to change the justice system have complicated issues by decriminalizing drug use, changing mental health law, and enacting bail reform that favors defendants.

State mandates aggravate the issue in rural areas by compelling smaller communities to follow rules that were primarily designed to address the homeless issues in New York City and higher populated urban areas. Officials n rural areas, like Chenango County, say the mandates outstrip local resources and cause public safety issues of their own.