MEETING
TO HELP DEFINE THE HINESBURG COMMUNITY’S GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR LOCAL POLICE
SERVICES
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Summary of Comments
Comments
from Small Group Discussion
Participants’ responses to questions posed by the Selectboard:
– It’s difficult to know what’s the “right” level of
policing.
– Not enough police visibility
– Stress on officers
– Current level of coverage seems appropriate
– Want more night coverage
– Concern re cost of expanding services
– Don’t want to go back to relying on the State Police
– Miss seeing local police on private roads
– We should work to minimize officer turnover by
creating good working conditions: we get back what we put in
– Comfort in seeing police; nice presence
– I feel safe; don’t need to be personally aware of
police presence
– Not enough services to prevent burglaries and drug
crimes
– Stagger shifts to cover more night hours. Don’t make info re hours not covered
available to the public. It’s common
knowledge that the police are off duty after 11:00 PM
– Don’t spread existing staff too thin.
– Coordination between police, fire and highway crew is
great. Keep this!
– Need info as to whether we’re better off because we
have local service. How do we compare
to Charlotte?
– I appreciate the police and what they do
– Increase police presence and visibility
– Faster response for health emergencies (majority of
officers are EMT certified)
– More traffic control, especially for rush hour and on
4th of July; use the radar machine
– Additional staff and hours
– Some night
coverage
– Increased officer training
– Listen to what officers need: cooperation between
officers and comp time
– Provide police w/ the hours they need to provide
services
– Drug services
– Remedial officer at CVU
– Need positive attitude about youth
– Increase presence in schools
– Emergency Preparedness Plan
– More night time policing
– Explore ways to increase office efficiency—e.g.
computer speed
– Preventive and proactive presence in more rural
areas—more officers to conduct random drive-thrus
– Neighborhood Watch
– With more sidewalks, more patrols will be needed
– 45 minute response time for State Police isn’t
adequate
– We need more self-policing
–
Provide info re what
the department does that doesn’t show up on the incident reports (lock out
assistance, house checks, school programs, EMS calls, info calls)
– Want to know more about what businesses think about
going after bad checks. Is this a
priority?
– Speeding tickets
– Canine training
–
Let the department set
its priorities
– Are lock out services needed?
– Keep NOT doing animal control
– Consider not checking vacant homes, or charging a fee
for this service, or getting neighbors to check
– Consider using volunteers or others for EMS calls and
other “non-police” services
– Still good for officers to have EMS training
– Police are ready and able to respond to EMS calls
– Ask Chris to develop a list of non-police services
the department provides
– Eliminate assistance to other towns
– Would be helpful to have info re a typical officer’s
day.
– Emulate Shelburne and Williston and publish police
logs in the paper.
– Works! It’s
terrific!
– Community connection important: e-mail system, caring
attitude
– Small town atmosphere important for children;
children are more comfortable with community officers
– Community officers are “in touch” and accessible to
the people
– Community involvement to help officers
– Work with other police forces
– Like that we are helping other communities
– I don’t want the police to be buddies, I wan them
there with a badge and a gun; I don’t know about the “Teddy Bear” part.
– Police treating people with respect and courtesy is
super important
– Not good that I didn’t respect the police growing up.
– Authority of police is important, and is diminished
by community policing
– Police for traditional police services.
– I like the e-mails to look out for certain cars
Yes: 23
No:
7
Please
note that not all groups voted. The
numbers above are a tally of those participants who clearly indicated that they
supported or opposed this proposal.
Comments:
– Where does it end?
– More info needed re how the department would use the
money, and what services aren’t currently offered, and the consequences
– Maximize value for $ invested
– Support the department and it’s normal rate of
increase; we don’t have professional expertise; we elect and hire people to
make these decisions.
– Key indicator:
we’re loosing officers
– Support salary increases –longevity is critical to
community policing; we don’t want to be a training ground for officers.
– 1 – 2% increase is a no-brainer. Let’s do it.
– Young and old people may find this a hardship
– The Chief was making a leap w/ the cigarettes!
– Take an ax to the other part of the pie
– Don’t increase the police budget at the expense of
education
–
Would support an
increase after this meeting, but NOT this coming one. Support reasonable increase this time w/ good
explanation. Grow by small increments.
–
Should have a police
commission or board to review police department
– Intermediary growth between status quo and 1.7
officers?
– Seek monetary contribution from Chittenden South
School District?
– Additional officers and salary increases are
important
– I’ve changed my mind because of this discussion
– They’re being worked to death
–
I’d rather pay officers
more than hire more people; value of high performance and skilled officers
– Clarify what we would get for $105,000.
– Concerned re prospect of new police building in the
future
– Doing #5 and 6 in one year is too much
Yes: 0
No: 9
Please note that not all groups voted. The numbers above are a tally of those
participants who clearly indicated that they supported or opposed this proposal.
Comments:
– Not sure we can afford it
– Don’t support unless something else is cut
– A VERY significant increase; like the current mix of
local and State Police coverage
– Need more coverage than we have now
– What are the most important hours to cover?
– Discuss other options
– 12:00 to 3:00 AM coverage not needed
– Need overlapping shifts for officer support and communication
– Keep coverage unpredictable, so criminals don’t know
schedule
– Make 24 coverage a long-term goal, but don’t go to it
now
– Don’t want to lose State Police coverage at night
– Want info from State Police re number of calls they
receive from Hinesburg 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM
–
24 hour coverage is
worthwhile, if it can be accomplished w/o a tax increase
– Salary increases and comp time pay are more important
than 24 hour coverage
– Explore on call options
Comments by Speakers Who Addressed the
Full Group
–
Is a regional approach
in which several towns share resources a possibility?
–
Doug did a great job,
but we need more info
–
Not much time between
now and Town Meeting to figure this out
–
One can get complacent
living in a rural area; when you need a police officer, you don’t want to have
to wait. 25 minutes is too long to wait
for a response from out of town
–
1 – 2% budget increase
is worth it to have a fully-staffed department.
–
Is there any way to
compensate Chris when he’s called out at night?
–
What other options are
there other than having an officer on duty 24/7?