February 16, 2008 - (Eagle
Times) -
"Police
part of BF identity" - (Return
to News)
Police part of BF identity
Saturday, February 16, 2008
In the latest debate over what defines Bellows Falls as a village,
whether to keep its police department or save money with the Windham
County Sheriff's Department, it would be easy to get very corny.
To be a village or not to be a village, that is the question voters will
decided in May. With apologies to William Shakespeare, the police
question may be new but the overall question of being a village is not.
After trustees come up with a budget that forces them to take a
position, village residents will again be asked what does being a
village mean to them.
From a money point of view, Bellows Falls has a high property tax rate
and Sheriff Keith Clark's proposal, one from a man who used to be
village police chief, would shave more than $200,000 off the projected
police budget new Chief Ron Lake discussed with trustees on Tuesday.
As village residents showed last year, however, money is not necessarily
the most important thing. At the village meeting in May 2007, funds cut
from the police budget to prevent deficit spending were put back with
the goal of returning to 24/7 police coverage.
This continued a long run of support for village government in Bellows
Falls. Attempts to merge with the town of Rockingham have repeatedly
failed or brought up enough dissension to prompt officials to use words
like consolidation or efficiencies when looking for ways for the town
and village to save money.
The village identity its residents have protected and supported for so
long comes at a cost, it has been argued over the years. Judging by last
year's village meeting and the steadfast opposition to merging with
Rockingham, it certainly appears this is a price, supposed or otherwise,
village residents are willing to pay. At least for now.
Few things are more personal to a small town than its police department.
They are the first on the scene for practically any kind of bad
situation. They are the most visible employees, thanks to their
uniforms, cruisers and general presence in and around the community.
They spend their days, or more accurately their nights, in the trouble
spots, the places where couples fight, people drink and drive, teens
vandalize, etc.
If Bellows Falls decides to take Sheriff Clark up on his offer for
sheriff department coverage, it would mark a sharp departure from the
village's past. We're not sure that is going to happen, no matter how
much difficulty the village police department has had in the past year
or so. This would represent a loss of identity Bellows Falls may not be
willing to do.
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