Crystal Peatfield's Photography

Just a Criminal Justice Degree looking at society through her lens.

[crystalpeatfield-blog]

This photo series has a story. This crime that you see above has affected someone that I know personally. The location of this crime was in Waterville, Maine.

The Story:

The person that I know was driving home and noticed that there were no spots available in the driveway of her apartment complex. She decided to go to the Rite Aid down the street, and park the car under a camera to ensure that there was surveillance.

During the time that the car was in the parking lot, a couple of teenagers decided that they were going to break into cars all over Waterville because one was angry about something from his day, and the others were drinking, underage. The person that smashed into this persons car was the angry individual and that was his reason for doing it. When he broke into the car, he decided to not steal anything except for a pair of red gloves.

The person that this happened to had a great sense of humor and said that when the police caught him, he was wearing the gloves, and they caught him “red-handed.”

[crystalpeatfield-blog]

Augusta, Maine -- Today I decided to adventure away from Waterville. I think that it is important for people to understand that one community can be affected by how its maintained, but the neighboring communities also have an influence on them. Augusta is not that far away from Waterville. You can take West River Road from the Thomas College campus and you are all the way in Augusta after you get through Sidney.

The reason why I wanted to focus on Augusta as the neighboring community is because I have actually had an opportunity to communicate with a specific group that are residing in that area; the women’s residential drug facility that is hosted by MaineGeneral.

The first image is an abandoned facility just a short walk away from the program. It is in the makings of getting renovated for more doctors offices, restaurants, and hotels. With development growing just down the street it acts as a thriving environment which has a positive influence on those that are overcoming addiction.

The second photo is still a part of the facility, but I emphasized the red on the stop sign because it reminded me of when I was talking to the director of the drug program. The women that are in the facility are women that are at a final chance for them to get better. The stop sign to me, was a way of saying “stop” to drug use.

The third photo is of a sign that is on the same walking trail as the abandoned buildings on the waterfront view of the Kennebec River. It reads “Drug-free Safe Zone.” I actually haven’t seen any of these signs around, other than school areas.

When I was at the women’s facility, the director was saying how Augusta and the state of Maine in general have a huge influence of drug addiction within the communities. Individuals are either court-ordered, self-admitted, or family influenced into the programs that they are in.

It is an interesting perspective on an environmental issue, but it does affect a lot of people. Especially how “environmental" can be defined as the impact of human activity.

[crystalpeatfield-blog]

“Imagine that the neighborhood you are living in is covered with graffiti, litter, and unreturned shopping carts. Would this reality cause you to litter more, trespass, or even steal? A thesis known as the broken windows theory suggests that signs of disorderly and petty criminal behavior trigger more disorderly and petty criminal behavior, thus causing the behavior to spread. This may cause neighborhoods to decay and the quality of life of its inhabitants to deteriorate” (Keizer).

This is what I have been trying to conclude in all of my postings. There are little things that either increase the likelihood of more criminality, or decrease it. Positive influence are going to have a correlation to the thriving in a community. Whereas causing misdemeanors and letting these petty crimes happen like graffiti, is going to look like it is not a big deal, but as it progresses, it becomes a bigger impact and it gets harder to decrease it again since there is a lot more repair that has to be done.

In the photos, it astounded me to the point after seeing so much graffiti on the streets, that I actually saw it on top of a building. It made me wonder why someone literally did not have a care in the world and decided that they wanted to make a statement or just tag for the heck of it, by resulting on the roof. If someone is willing to go out of their way, then there are others in the community that may have the same motive as this person that wrote “down side.”

And yes, I will have people opposing this thought. However, that’s because it’s not an obvious concern since it’s not including other people, but not having a good drive or care in a community, would eventually affect all people in the community and that is important to keep in mind the next time you see “decaying” neighborhoods.

[crystalpeatfield-blog]

You know what amazes me? These train tenders are right next door to the Waterville Police Department. These tenders have graffiti on them and it makes me wonder if they were tagged while they were here or when the trains were traveling? Tagging is illegal in Maine. I like to show this as a part of the environment because graffiti shows that there are reckless people in and around this city, which means that if someone can be reckless enough to tag, what makes me think that they wouldn’t act in a reckless manner when involved in other criminal acts? Starting this project has started making me see that even the smallest misdemeanor can be shown in a community. For someone to commit a crime within walking distance of the police department shows recklessness and taking these photos really opened my eyes.

[crystalpeatfield-blog]

Waterville, ME -- This posting I wanted to make sure that I had these three images together. These three photos are all in the same area. In the second image, you can see that there is an active mill, and an inactive mill. The first image shows a broken window, which is a part of the mill that is not being used. Across the street, is an abandoned building that used to be a KFC.

These pictures show the progress and growth of Waterville. There is a project that is called The Hathaway Project (I will provide the link below), and it is the college’s, Thomas College and Colby College, and the City of Waterville, coming together to change the atmosphere in Waterville. Being a “college town,” the city is trying to advance it to make it a community that is progressively advancing. 

In the new mill, there are beautiful apartments, and offices that is adding a facelift to the not so pretty area of Waterville. This area shows a lot of character of a community trying to thrive. Having a mill in not so great conditions, and having an abandoned and weed infested KFC across the street shows that there is a lot that needs to be done to advance the city.

Having care for Waterville and knowing that things need to improve, is a positive step in the direction of a safe community. The more people that care about the community, the better atmosphere and environment it will be, thus meaning, a decrease in crime. When people care, they are more likely to have better relationships and see more suspicious activity, which can help police decrease the crime. I am proud of Waterville trying to turn the city around, and I look forward to following the changes as the years go on, wherever I am.

The Hathaway Creative Center Link:

https://thehathawaycreativecenter.com/ 

[crystalpeatfield-blog]

Crime Watch -- Waterville, ME

Waterville is rated number 4 in an article called “The 10 Most Dangerous Places in Maine.” The article focused on the amount of crimes that have been reported in each city, and even categorized which type of crimes were committed. I can say that all communities have crimes whether they are misdemeanors or violent crimes; regardless, there is crime occurring in every community. In Waterville, there are crime watch signs almost on every corner. When I was taking these photos at night, I actually saw plenty of police patrolling the neighborhoods as well. This sign helps the environment for the people in the community because they have a role in reporting anything that is suspicious. I appreciate these signs because they act as a deterrence to those committing crimes, and it acts as a reminder to the people living here that they can help police out with the safety of their own environment by reporting all the suspicious activities. 

Here is a link to the article I was referencing:

http://www.movoto.com/guide/me/most-dangerous-places-in-maine/ 

[crystalpeatfield-blog]

Light and Crime -- Waterville, ME

Having a lot of light makes an area more safe. If a perpetrator was in the area, and approached you in a bright area, like this photo for example, you would be able to identify the individual and eventually have a higher likelihood to apprehend the individual based off of having light. In a lot of settings, some people are approached from dark alleys or poorly lit areas and can make it difficult to look at features on the person. No, studies haven’t been able to prove that a lot of lighting has decreased crime, however, it would probably be more ideal to be able to identify an individual with more light, then it is to not. With that being said, this photo was taken by the Penny Bridge in Waterville at night, and there is plenty of lighting all over the place, except for on the bridge itself. I personally felt uneasy to go on the bridge due to the lack of lighting, and felt more safe in the area with more light. Lighting helps make a community feel safe, but that also depends on the area. If it is a shady area, it may have a lot of light, but could still cause discomfort. However, in this case, this photo is a great example of comfort in Waterville.

[crystalpeatfield-blog]

Art In Communities -- Waterville, ME

This photo is of red and orange umbrella’s that are promoting the Arts in Waterville. The umbrella’s are in there to pique the interest of everyone in the community to attend the Mary Poppins play that will be in the Opera House starting April 8th. This has brought young children and even families or members of the community together. It helps emphasize and scream “community”. I took this photo because I think it is important for communities to enjoy things together and it brings an uplifting feeling to the city of Waterville. This project has incorporated different groups, which include all ages. There is a children’s exhibit opening that is in relation to this project and I think that is important. Having children involved in interactive and enjoyable activities helps keep them busy and to stay out of trouble. Having this in Waterville can help decrease crime rates by keeping children in a supportive and influential activity. People care about this community and the history within it. Below is a hyperlink to the project and it shows the excitement that people have for Waterville.  I just thought this was a great opportunity to shape an area. The more good and support put into a community, the less crime occurs because it shows positive influences in the area and not bad activities.

Here is the link to the project:

https://www.centralmaine.com/2016/03/30/umbrellas-fill-trees-in-watervilles-castonguay-square/

[crystalpeatfield-blog]

Main Street -- Waterville, ME

Students in my class are doing things with different community groups. This project is a solo project for me. Now, does that mean that I don’t meet people when I go out into the community? Absolutely not! I was actually kneeling down taking a picture of a beautiful church and a father and son approached me and were wondering if I was praying for the church. Then they realized I had the camera on me and they laughed. They told me that this was the church that they attend and they went on their way down the street. Going out taking photos for my project is exciting! People are curious as to what made me want to take a photo of a wall, or what made me want to see more about a vacant KFC.

In this photo, you can see that the bricks have different colors on them. This photo is an example of people trying to take care of their community. You cans see in the lower left, the faded and painted over graffiti that was written in black. There are people that are trying to still make the community look beautiful, and then there is another percentage that wants to commit crimes like vandalizing a wall continuously. Waterville’s downtown is trying to thrive, and this is a prime example of showing that.

[crystalpeatfield-blog]

My Purpose

Hello Everyone,

I am involved in an online class at, Unity College, called Environmental Photography. As a final project, each student was asked to get involved with a communal group, or to find an issue that is within a community, or the environment. I decided to base my project on something that is related to my Criminal Justice Degree at Thomas College. As we all know, we all come from different backgrounds. Some individuals had a seat at a table and family conversations, and a safe community outside our doors to our homes. Others have not had that luxury. Some people walk outside and see drug deals, or didn’t always have supervision from their parents or guardians, and live in environments that aren’t always the safest environments.

The communities and the environments that we live in can reflect our views in the world. I am a firm believer that the way we live from the day we are born on, can have a correlation to our moral and beliefs as we grow. There is a theory called “broken windows theory,” which goes into greater detail of the effect a community may have based on anti-social mannerisms, vandalism, crime, and like the name, broken window areas. The theory behind it is, if there is a broken window or more, then the vandals are likely to damage more in the community, or even start breaking into places due to the lack of care and drive in that environment.

With that background, I focused my project on going out into communities and documenting photos of broken windows, and vacant buildings, and even vandalism like graffiti, with the hopes and understanding after the project is completed, that there is a correlation to crime and an unsafe environment.

Thanks and I look forward to sharing this journey with you all!

-Crystal Peatfield