We had a very bad problem with drunk drivers that began over 30 years
ago and worsened until it was addressed by additional nighttime patrols
and a cross patrol program created between local towns and the
Washington County Sheriff's Department. While DUI remains a problem, it
is no longer the worst law enforcement problem facing The Valley towns,
nor is speeding. Speeding and DUI patrols are what our current law
enforcement programs are designed to address.
We have nothing in place nor nothing planned for our most pressing law
enforcement problem -- property crimes. It's been said in this space
before -- we are behind the eight-ball on this problem. Way behind --
10 years behind. Maybe more.
No one wants to be the first one to say it, or advocate for it, but the
fact is we need some sort of community police force, something more
than our contracted services with the sheriff's office and something
more than our local constabulary can provide.
Our neighboring ski area, Stowe, has a population of 4,500 full-time
residents and a weekend population that regularly swells to 10,000.
Sound familiar? The combined population of The Valley towns is about
5,000 and our weekend population often swells to twice that number.
Stowe has 12 full-time officers and 10 part-time officers. The
Waterbury Village police department services a village population of
1,500 with four full-time officers (including an active chief) and four
part-time officers at a 2010 budget of $408,465.
We don't need to re-invent the wheel to learn how other small
communities in Vermont have addressed this issue, but we do need to
take some proactive steps and sooner versus yesterday.
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