No need for a Fairfax Police Department

[DrewCrash]

@ Mummy: Will you please advise where I can find these instructions? I was not aware there were instructions. Please note, I am being serious. I like to follow instructions and was not aware of them.

[DrewCrash]

back on topic: the following was something I posted on a different thread Chris Santee and I were having regarding which yarn is best to use to make mittens out of. It belongs here and is very well on topic.

I believe a dedicated police department is not required and this is what I believe is the problem / opportunity for improvement:


I actually have a very specific ideas on this topic to double the coverage to not exceed 80 hours a week, and am confident that it could be well executed with minimum to no impact on the taxpayer. The plan would require a review of the current scheduling process of how and when the Sheriff's office is present in town and the end plan could very well be done with possible 60 hours.

I know there are solid solutions to navigate through this event by providing cost downs in our largest expense, the school department. I am not going to share my plan publicly on this message board, in order to be prevent confrontation and arguments to erupt. If you have noticed from my more recent posts, I am trying to bring humor to the boards in order to defuse emotional anger towards each others comments.

I will say this though, the mere mention of a cost down initiative from the school department is likely to spark enough debate. I believe we could easily find $80,000 to support doubling our patrol coverage. And before anyone attacks me for being anti-school let me state the following: I was an education major, my wife is a teacher, and I would even support an increased property tax rate for Fairfax to have a full-time preschool / kindergarten options.

What I truly believe is missing, is an acceptance to the fact that the Sheriff's office is a supplier to the town of Fairfax. As a supplier, there needs to be improved supplier management driven by continuous improvement processes that should be led by appointments from the town selectmyn to a community police board. As I am confident that the town is likely managing the Sheriff's department to an extent and likely has good communication with the department, it is not transparent enough to the citizens of Fairfax. I look at the Committee for the community center and my thoughts aside on this topic, they are doing an excellent job at communicating, opening themselves up to input by all, and running a truly transparent operation. I believe the school department and its programs as well do an excellent job at this too, as does our amazing volunteer fire department. The FCSD is completely absent when compared to the other two pillars (fire, school) that are critical to our town's success as a community.

I am, in no way, advocating for a full-time police department at this time. I truly believe increased patrols, improved communication between FCSD and increased accountability through a community police board will help drive improvement and eliminate the concerns that continue to be vocalized by the residents. We all know the FCSD is more than capable and able to meet our needs, but we should not ignore our rights to be able to hold this department accountable to the standards we require for our community.

I will ask this simple question, do residents of Fairfax believe that speeding is an issue throughout our community and we would like to see a reduction in this? I believe the answer is yes. In review of the Sheriff's web page, they publish the list of traffic violation citations per month. What the information does not share with you, is how many of these violations were generated from a single traffic stop. In addition, you can see that we go from months in which there were only 3 violations for the entire month to 26 violations the next month. Why such a large delta month to month? What statistical analysis is being done here? Officer on duty? Time of day? etc...

I see a statistical problem when you look at the standard deviation in the month to month # of tickets being issued. How do we have months of 3, 5, & 7 and then other months of 25 and 26? Are you telling me we only speed that much in July and October but not in May or June? The FCSD is issuing one citation every 12 hours. Once again, we all know we can get multiple citations on a single traffic stop. But still, one every 12 hours? Is our crime rate that bad in which the other 11 hours they are solving the great dilemmas of Fairfax? Speed traps can not solely be set up at the car wash!

I don't mean to focus on one single problem, but I am trying to highlight the need for accountability. It makes no sense we can a have a month with only 3 - THREE - traffic citations and another month with 26. This makes ABSOLUTELY no sense. That month, the FCSD issued a ticket every 57.77 hours. Are you kidding me? In that same month, there was 8 listed incidents and 2 arrests (one of which was excessive speed in which had to have been one of the 3 traffic citations.) What was the FCSD doing the entire month?

I just don't accept the notion that there job is to solely patrol. There needs to be more enforcement and if we don't think there aren't opportunities for improvement on 104, 104A, Buck Hollow Road, Carroll Hill Road, Fletcher Road (& others) then we are simply tossing our money away by not holding more accountability. This is not a knock against the individual staff members, nor is it a knock against their abilities, but merely an observation that there are discrepancies that should and need to be addressed.

[Chris Santee]

One possible on the variation on traffic violations may have been
our burglary problem a several months ago.
I know for a fact the FCSD was very busy during their 40 hours
tracking several juveniles.
Now that the problem has been resolved, perhaps they have more time available.

But that's just something that pops into my head, I'll need to confirm the months.

You raise some other great issues we should address.
But, for now, I've got to run.

[DrewCrash]

Chris: I'd love to talk more and I'd love to sit down and provide true statistical analysis, of which can not be completed without open book data from FCSD. I am a firm believer in statistics and it has a place in government and public policy. As much as we trust our FCSD, myself included, it doesn't make them immune from the citizens of Fairfax demanding improved service and holding them accountable for the improvement. and quite frankly, I don't think there is anyone who is going to take this initiative.

[Mike Raburn]

I have NOT been back to Fairfax for over 20 years, BUT I can tell you all 1 thing.

One Officer at 40 grand a year will not cut it.
Fairfax is too big square miles wise for one Lone Ranger....

If you all get / have a Constable, and I think there is one, does FAIRFAX get a cut of tickets they write?

[trussell]

Yes Fairfax does have a Constable who, from what I understand, is more than willing to be active from a LE perspective.  In the past when the issue has been brought up, the Select Board's standard answer is that it's "too much liability" for the town- even though, according to VT League of Cities and Towns, Fairfax has the same insurance policy as most other towns in the state.

As long as a Constable is elected (as opposed to appointed by the Select Board), only the voters can limit their law enforcement powers.  This has not happened in Fairfax.  My opinion is that if we have someone that's willing to do it, has the proper training, and we're willing to support them- both morally and monetarily, then utilizing a Constable is a great idea.

And yes, the town would get nearly 100% of any fines issued (I believe it's the full fine minus "processing fees" or something like that).

I'm not sure if his term is up or not- or even if he's running this year- but VOTE FOR JOSH!

[DrewCrash]

@ trussell: This was probably the most interesting information posted in the past week on this topic. Good information to know and have. In regards to the town government saying 'too much' liability...I just don't get that. I could see them saying there is too much liability if they wanted to build an outdoor pool, but how could liability be an issue for a public service such as LE. Is there liability, sure I suppose. But isn't liability worth it for something like this? Anyway, I think the only solution is to have a coupe and install a monarchy to run Fairfax. I am going to need some Lords and Dukes. Please email me your resumes...

[Mike Raburn]

Drew,

I will come back to Fairfax and patrol them mean streets.

Just get me 12mb down and 1mb up with internet.......

Oh, and pay me a salary.
I don't need much...

Dry roof, dry floor (not dirt), that power stuff.
I am set!

There would be a NEW Sheriff in town.

Fairfax CSI.
Law & Order in FAIRFAX

[Stand Alone Defense]

LOL Thanks Trevor I still have 2 years left on my term though no voting yet.  As far as things changing with the Constable getting a longer leash.... we both know what the result of that battle will be.

[trussell]

"Longer Leash", eh?  Good luck! I'd approve it if it were up to me!

2 years left? Is it a 3-year term now? Cool!

[Henry]

When I saw Trevor's post, it reminded me, I first met Trevor and had no idea who he was one time when I was doing some reasearch on Fairfax Genealogy down at the Town Office.  He was constable at the time and I think was checking on a dog owner.