Many years ago, before Waitsfield entered into its agreement with the
Washington County Sheriff's Department to provide coverage, the argument
was made that above and beyond the writing of tickets, the presence of
law enforcement would act as a deterrent to the breaking of traffic
laws. By and large, this has happened. In my unscientific estimation,
drivers are more observant of our traffic laws. Although traffic law
violation is no longer the problem it was several years ago, crimes
against property, particularly our community's businesses, have
increased dramatically.
I believe our current law enforcement priorities are wrong. They are
focused on a smaller problem, one that has largely been solved, while
ignoring a much larger one. As a Waitsfield resident and taxpayer, I can
no longer support the use of my tax dollars to pay for law enforcement
that does not address our most pressing priorities.
Many businesses in Waitsfield and The Valley are in a fragile state as
it is. How many more burglaries will it take before our only drug store
or some other small business closes its doors? There is little that a
town can do directly in behalf of its businesses, but overnight
patrolling would give an increased level of security to our business
owners and an added measure of comfort to townspeople in general.
Governing is about making choices, and choosing to use our modest law
enforcement budget for daylight traffic patrols when nighttime property
crimes are being routinely committed, as a direct result of the lack of a
regular law enforcement presence, is nothing less than irresponsible.
We do not need more public forums, more dialogue with law enforcement or
a study committee. What is needed is for the Waitsfield Select Board to
reset our law enforcement priorities, communicate those priorities to
the Washington County Sheriff's Department and monitor their performance
in addressing them.
Wayne Davies
Waitsfield
cc: Susan Klein, Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce.
{loadnavigation}
