TUNBRIDGE — Vermont State Police say they want to partner with community members in the White River Valley to combat illicit drug sales and other crime, but some attendees at the first in a series of new public meetings on Thursday said they have been voicing concerns for years — or they are fearful of retribution.
Troopers from the Royalton barracks plan to meet weekly in Tunbridge with residents of Bethel, Chelsea, Royalton, Sharon, Strafford and beyond to hear residents’ concerns, and are encouraging residents to report suspicious activity to law enforcement.
The strategy is meant to improve how authorities gather, process and share information, and provide the public with the tools they need to help police solve crimes, said Vermont State Police Sgt. Jerry Partin, who is rolling out the “intelligence-based policing” model and led Thursday’s gathering at the Tunbridge Central School.
“We will work off the intelligence provided from you,” Partin told the crowd of roughly 40 people. “We take this information … then we’ll put it together.”
Community members spent the majority of the 90-minute meeting asking Partin questions about the initiative; Chelsea resident Jessie Schmidt opened with a direct one.
“What are you trying to accomplish?” she asked.
“(We are) trying to take the market away from the drug dealers,” Partin replied.
“A community response to addressing the opiate epidemic?” she countered.
“Yes,” Partin replied. The goal is “having the community say ‘you aren’t invited here.’ ”
Partin asked community members to call state police in Royalton and provide troopers with any information that may be tied to a crime, even if that bit of information won’t immediately crack a case.
Tipping a trooper off to when there is a heavy pattern of traffic outside a house and relaying frequent license plate numbers could help officers with a case in the future, he said.
Another example, Trooper Jeremy Lyon said, is if police receive a report that an individual goes to a specific spot at a certain time of day to use a drug and throws the needle out the car window, a trooper can attempt to track that person down with that information.
“We can use it to put us in the right place at the right time,” Partin said.
A few people asked Partin what has changed to allow the police to take the public’s information and use it as part of an investigation.
“Ten years ago, I was making these phone calls,” said Tunbridge resident Brigham Lunn, her voice growing louder.
“This wasn’t around then,” Partin said. “Give it a chance.”
In an interview after the meeting, Partin said Vermont State Police are making a “shift in the way we are doing things.”
He started using the strategy around 2012 in Middlesex, and unveiled it in Williamstown about six months go. Partin recently was transferred to the Royalton barracks, which seemed like the next logical place to dive in, he said.
Much of the meeting centered on the ongoing drug problem in the White River Valley, and at least one woman said she is fearful of retribution for speaking out on the topic.
The woman, who declined to identify herself and where she lived for those reasons, said she feels that if word gets out that she is helping to change the culture in her neighborhood, the drug dealers who live nearby may target her.
“We are very careful in our little community,” the woman said. “I’m cautious.”
The model should be looked at as a “holistic approach,” so Partin encouraged community members to look at all facets of how drugs impact the community.
Strafford resident Ben Younce asserted that medications used to wean addicted people could contribute to the drug problem.
“It’s creating other addicts,” Younce said of people who sell their prescribed methadone. He called for strengthening treatment programs in the state, which he said are “failing miserably.”
Partin said the program works off of six goals that community members will be asked to expand on each week. They include:
■creating a safe and secure environment;
■promoting and fostering community relationships and partnerships with local police, state police, community leaders and local organizations;
■reducing drug activity and violence;
■establishing positive, effective youth and parental programs;
■ensuring a “unity of effort”;
■and generating intelligence by, with and through community.
“We are not vigilantes here,” Partin said. “You are community members coming together … bringing ideas together to come up with solutions.”
The meetings will continue indefinitely at 6 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Tunbridge Central School.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.