A recent Conneaut Lake graduate told the crowd that shutting down the dances put the good kids at a disadvantage, “gives the ‘gang’ an advantage” and also “helps them gain momentum” in the community.

He also suggested that the police use technology, such as cyberspace, to identify the kids through MySpace and the postings on their pages.

“After you identify them, you can identify their motives and then know how to deal with them.”

But with regard to the dances, Pfeifer stood firm. “Forty kids were fighting in the street,” he said. “The dances that were once a benefit are now a problem.”

Pfeifer said he did not take the decision to stop the dances lightly.

“Prior to this year, the dances were almost incident-free, with the exception of a few disorderly conducts,” he said. “Dances gave the kids something to do and brought business to the local economy because parents would drop their kids off and then a lot of them would go out for dinner.”

But after kids were found hiding alcohol in the woods, more assaults and a possible sexual assault that is still being investigated, the scuffle in the street Sunday was the last straw.

“I had to consider the safety of the town, not just of the kids,” Pfeifer said. “I have to also think about the safety of the passing motorists and the people who live and visit the area.”

Pfeifer did admit that the meeting Wednesday had some eye-opening information, because he had never heard about some of the incidents that people were discussing.

“I gave everyone the opportunity to step up here first,” he said. “And a lot of this stuff we (police) didn’t know was going on. If I don’t know, I can’t fix it for you!”

After discussion with community members, Pfeifer admitted that while he has no experience in the formation of a crime watch group, he would make the necessary contacts to get the ball rolling for citizens who were interested.

Pfeifer also told attendees that there were other measures that the department planned on taking to address the problem.

During the meeting, Pfeifer said kids will sooner or later get the message as they get arrested and ordered to perform community service.

“We’ll put Junior out painting the curbs or raking the sand at the beach,” he said. “Then maybe the next time they will think twice about doing something they know is wrong.”

And if that approach doesn’t work, there are other ways of driving home the seriousness of the situation to both the delinquent kids and their parents.