NewsINK Issue 6

Inside: New Cop in town - p.3 Combining Barracks - p.4 Who’s who - p.6 Behind the Scenes: Domestic Violence - p.8 Drug Kingdom - p.12 A night with a State trooper - p.16

Cover Photo by Samantha VanSchoick

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NewsINK Staff: Eric Blaisdell Morgan Forester Erin Milne Samantha Knight Samantha VanSchoick Adviser: Dan Williams Cover photo: A view from the passenger seat of a Vermont State Police cruiser.

NewsINK is a publication of the Vermont Center for Community Journalism at Lyndon State College. Find us online at Issuu.com/newsink.

Address queries to: NewsINK, Department of Electronic Journalism Arts, Lyndon State College, P.O. Box 919, Lyndonville, Vt. 05849.

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Eventful Start for Rookie Cop

Story by Samantha Knight Rookie Cop Anna Allard wanted to be a police officer to help people, but knew there was more to the job.

“Definitely my least favorite part of the job has to be arresting anybody,” Allard said. “I really hate doing that.”

Allard, 20, is now dealing with a sexual harassment case that she filed against her captain, Jason Gray.

Allard says in a letter to the Caledonian-Record that she doesnʼt think the three week suspension that Gray received is a severe enough punishment. Gray did write a letter apologizing to Allard and town manager, Ralph Nelson, told the newspaper that Grayʼs punishment is “the heaviest” he could give to a first time offender.

“I wanted to be a police officer from the age of three,” Allard said in

Photography by Erica Ponte an interview before the sexual harassment case became public.

She said she loves the majority of the work that she is assigned to do especially if it involves the well- being of the community. “My favorite part is getting to help people like when I get do lockouts and things like that. Iʼm here to help, not pound my fist in.”

This is Allardʼs first job in any police department, and she said she is happy that her first experience can be in the town where she grew up.

She attended Lyndon State College for one semester, but realized that being a police officer was her true calling.

“I took classes, but then somehow my path happened and I ended up here,” Allard said.

After two weeks of being on the force, Allard made a huge bust after

pulling over a car for speeding.

“I was pretty much just doing my job in patrol and the guy was obviously speeding so I pulled him over; then I smelled pot so I did a consensus search on him and I found about two ounces of marijuana and one gram of cocaine,” Allard said.

She arrested Takahashi Hummingbird, 41, St. Johnsbury. Hummingbirdʼs next court appearance is April 23.

When Allard is not doing patrol or helping out the community, she has a lot of day-to-day tasks that are standard in a police job.

“We usually transport the money from the town office to the bank, we do house checks to the community, we do a little bit of patrol and some stops if we can, basic stuff that every police station does,” Allard said.

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Photo illustration by Sierra Willenburg

VERMONT LOSING A BARRACKS, GAINING A TROOPER Story by Eric Blaisdell The Vermont State Police may have another trooper on the road if a proposed combination of VSP barracks goes through. The current St. Johnsbury and Bradford barracks would be moved to Barnet in an effort to cut costs.

“What would happen is you would eliminate one position for a station commander,” said VSP Lt. Michael Henry, the St. Johnsbury station commander. “That one position would go back to the road.”

Barnet is 24 miles from the current Bradford barracks and only 11 miles from the St. Johnsbury barracks.

“A majority of the complaints are up here in the north, as opposed to Bradford,” said Henry.

The only concern Henry has heard from the public is that it would take people on the outer edges of the coverage area longer to travel in order to file a complaint. The state will try to rent out the two buildings that currently house the barracks after the move. The joining is still three to five years away.

Recently the VSP has taken out an ad in the Caledonian-Record looking for property.

“We are looking for a central location, one that is going to have easy access, obviously, to the interstate, because we need to get north and south,” Henry said.

The money for the land and building the new barracks would be paid with state bonded funds and Henry did not know when the actual savings by combining the two stations would kick in, simply stating that it would be cheaper to maintain one building instead of two in the future. Another obstacle is which areas officers are going to patrol after the consolidation.

“Weʼre still trying to figure it out,” he said. “Weʼve broken it down into four patrol areas for north and south, two north and two south. Ideally what is going to happen is the people that generally stay north will stay north and the people who are in the Bradford area will stay in the Bradford area.”

Even though where the officersʼ patrol may stay the same, the location of the new home base could be an

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“For us, weʼre really not going to be that much further out,” said Vermont State Trooper Steve McGranaghan stationed in St. Johnsbury. “Weʼre just going to be down in Barnet. Itʼs five minutes down the road from where we are at now. I see it being more of an issue for the Bradford guys because (Bradford officers patrol) a long ways south.”

With the technology the state police vehicles have in their cars and their computers, they are essentially portable police stations.

“Technically we are pretty mobile with these (state police vehicles). We can type wherever,” said McGranaghan, adding he still gets plenty of use from the station. “I donʼt like typing in my car. Itʼs not comfortable. I donʼt do it. Thatʼs why I type in the office. If Iʼve got a bunch of paperwork to do, I do it in the office. I see (the consolidation) being a pain in the butt for a while, until people get used to it again, but other than that, what are you going to do.”

Nothing is final, as the funds needed for the move have not yet been provided by the Vermont legislature.

“The proposal is before both committees that have jurisdiction in the legislature,” said Commissioner of Department of Buildings and General Services Mike Obuchowski. He is referring to the committee on corrections and institutions in the house and the committee on institutions in the senate.

“I donʼt think that either body has taken an official position on it,” he said. “They are still taking testimony.”

Republican Senator Joe Benning, who represents

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Caledonia County and St. Johnsbury, sits on the committee of institutions.

“The committee is looking favorably towards combining them,” he said by phone.

“It is still a ways out in the distance yet.

There has to be a purchase of land. There has to be permits for citing for the building that is necessary to happen, but in a nutshell: at least the ball is rolling in the direction of making that happen.”

Benning sees an opportunity to improve the office spaces for the officers and saving on the cost of maintaining one building instead of two.

“Any time you get an opportunity to have a more efficient office space and make an improvement on the ability of officers to patrol, I think that is a wonderful thing,” he said, adding he has not heard any concerns from his constituents. “From what Iʼve been told, there are very few minutes being added to distance and most patrol officers are on the road anyway so they are not sitting out in the barracks waiting for something to happen. They are actually on the road. My understanding is there would be very little impact on the actual response time.”

A similar merging is underway between the Brattleboro and Rockingham barracks. The process was held up because the funding for that project was diverted to take care of damage from tropical storm Irene and the land the state was trying to buy was proving difficult to acquire from its owner. Benning does not foresee any issues like that holding up this project.

Above: VSP Trooper Steve McGranaghan still uses the barracks for filing paperwork. Below: The computer technology inside VSP cruisers turms them into mobile police barracks.

Photos by Samantha VanSchoick

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With a patchwork of sheriffs, constables, and police officers in the Northeast Kingdom, it’s enough to make a person ask

Who You Gonna Call?

By Erin Milne NewsINK

Thereʼs a new sheriff in Concord, and a man named Ken Copp can no longer act as a cop.

On Town Meeting Day, the Concord constable lost his bid to regain his law enforcement authority, which the town voted to strip him of last year. Voters also denied Coppʼs request for $4,100 in pay, a decision that was confirmed in a recount a week and a half later. Copp is now restricted to the constablesʼ duties laid out under Vermont statute and is receiving $1,000 from the Selectboard, said Karl Goulding, administrative assistant to the board.

Copp is blaming his demotion on selectmen. “We have a Selectboard that feels they know better than everyone else,” Copp says. Goulding says the Selectboard has no animosity toward Copp.

Copp says he is circulating a petition to have his law enforcement authority put to a revote; in the meantime, the town has entered into a $10,000 contract with the Essex County Sheriffʼs Department, which voters approved on Town Meeting Day. Beneath this drama lies an essential question: just exactly who does what when it comes to law enforcement in the Northeast Kingdom?

Right: Ken Copp has become a lightning rod in Concord, where voters stripped him of his law enforcement authority.

Photography by Michael Woodward.

Opposite Page: Troopers from the Vermont State Police barracks in St. Johnsbury provide 24-hour coverage for nearly two dozen towns in Caledonia County and the surrounding area.Photo

by Samantha VanSchoick.

Policing in Vermont is carried out by a patchwork of agencies. This is particularly true in the Northeast Kingdom, where many small towns do not have their own police departments. Towns without departments have several options. One is to vote to give a constable law enforcement authority. According to the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council, constables are allowed by law to destroy animals, put down injured deer, assist the town health officer, act as a district court officer, remove disorderly people from town meeting, and collect taxes if the town does not have a tax collector. But a town may vote to give its constable additional authority, such as the ability to act as a law enforcement officer. This means that the constable must undergo law enforcement training,

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If a town chooses not to give such authority to a constable, it can contract with the county sheriffʼs department, as Concord did. Caledonia County Sheriff Dean Shatney says his office has contracts with the towns of Peacham, Ryegate, Danville, Barnet, Waterford, and Sutton. If a town chooses none of the above options, however, it will still be covered by the nearest state police barracks.

Yet there remains the whole issue of law enforcement beyond the town level, and this too is divvied up between multiple overlapping departments. The Caledonia County Sheriffʼs Department is a fullservice law enforcement agency that handles criminal complaints and investigations throughout the county, Shatney says. The department also does highway patrol and handles traffic enforcement including DUI. The sheriffʼs department is also responsible for transporting prisoners to and from court, transporting mental health patients, and serving civil processes such as court summons, subpoenas, and eviction notices. In addition to its contracts with several towns, the department holds security contracts with businesses, including Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, Northeastern Vermont Development Association, and Gilman Housing Trust.

The other main law enforcement agency in the Northeast Kingdom is the Vermont State Police. The St. Johnsbury barracks covers twenty towns in Caledonia and Essex Counties and is responsible for all aspects of public safety and law enforcement, says Lt. Michael Henry, commander of the barracks. Like the sheriffʼs department, the state police cover criminal complaints and investigations, highway patrol, and traffic enforcement; unlike the sheriffʼs office and most police departments, the state police provide 24-hour coverage. The state police also handle all investigations of major crimes such as homicide, Henry says. He cites the murder/suicide in St. Johnsbury last December as a case in which the state police assisted the St. Johnsbury Police Department with the investigation.

So with so many agencies around, just who do you call if you need law enforcement but arenʼt sure who covers you neighborhood?

Shatney says people may call the sheriffʼs department with complaints, and if an officer is available, he or she will respond. If an officer is not available, the sheriffʼs office will send the complaint to the state police.

Henry suggests people should call 911 if they need immediate help. All 911 calls go to the Public Service Answering Point in Derby, and the dispatcher there transfers the call to the closest law enforcement agency.

“All you need to do is pick up that phone and make that one call,” Henry says.

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St. J VSP Coverage Barnet Burke Concord Danville East Haven

Granby Guildhall Kirby Lyndon Lunenburg Newark Peacham Sheffield Stannard St. Johnsbury Sutton Victory Walden Waterford Wheelock

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FIGHTING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ONE SURVIVOR AT A TIME Story and Photos by Morgan Forester At Right: Henekis Stoddard of Umbrella From the pages of the Caledonian-Record: “A plea deal is in the works for a Lunenburg man accused of assaulting his estranged wife with an ax last summer.“ “Willie Stevens Jr., 41, St. Johnsbury, was taken into custody and charged with domestic assault.”

Victims of domestic violence are “survivors,” says Henekis Stoddard, advocate for the non-profit group Umbrella, of the victims she works with in Northeast Kingdom.

“Thatʼs just my language for folks who have survived or are surviving domestic violence,” Stoddard explained.

As she sits behind the organized stacks of papers and files that cover her desk, Stoddard explains how Umbrella aids in the relief of those surviving domestic violence.

“We define domestic violence as one person trying

to gain and maintain power and control over someone else,” says Stoddard. “Sometimes the tactics used to do that arenʼt actually criminal.”

The abuse must be criminal in nature for law enforcement to step in. However, often much of abuse is in the form of emotional or verbal abuse where there is not always physical violence. Unfortunately, this means many survivors live in fear with what appears to be no way out. That is where Umbrella comes in.

“We are completely confidential, voluntary, nonprofit and free organization,” says Stoddard. Should a victim choose to seek help to escape their abusive relationship, one of the first steps is calling an advocate in the Sexual and Domestic Violence department of Umbrella.

It is not always easy to leave an abusive relationship, as the survivor is often made to feel guilty and forced to believe they deserve to be abused.

NewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInk This causes many victims to stay away from the authorities or other aid.

“Any process is going to start with the survivor and what they want,” says Stoddard.

Should a survivor choose to come forward, the advocates at Umbrella are trained to handle most situations and to do so with care. They make sure that the survivor is aware of their options and then provide as much support as possible. This support ranges from support groups, to gas cards so the survivor can flee, to an emergency shelter and safe house.

“One of the options is obtaining a relief of abuse order through family court,” says Stoddard. “Family court doesnʼt require a police report.” Should a survivor wish to take legal action, or the state has already begun the process, an Umbrella advocate can offer emotional support.

“Our role in [court] is supporting the survivors while their partner is going through the process,” says Stoddard. “A lot of people would think that theyʼd be psyched that their abuser is being locked up, but no, itʼs much more complicated than that.”

Vermont courts take domestic cases entirely out of the hands of the victim.

According to Stoddard, “Itʼs never an individual taking an individual to court.”

The police turn over the abuse report to the States Attorney and together they decide if the case is something that will be pursued. From then on the case is entirely handled between the state and the States Attorney.

During the long legal process, Umbrella offers support both in the courtroom and after. Should a survivor wish to stay away from the courtroom,

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an advocate can go in his/her place and then inform the survivor of what happened.

The majority of the survivors that Umbrella sees are between the ages of 20 and 45 but Stoddard is quick to point out that this doesnʼt mean that domestic violence isnʼt happening among other age groups.

“Domestic violence really crosses all lines, itʼs not an epidemic that only happens in certain types of communities.

[Thatʼs] a myth that surrounds domestic violence.”

According to Stoddard, “The cause of domestic violence is people initiating in the belief system that they have entitlement to have power and control over their partner, and that can exist in any mindset.”

Another myth surrounding the subMary, advocate for survivors ject is that the survivor is to blame for the of sexual violence battery.

“Battering is almost never an isolated incident, itʼs a pattern of a belief system. Typically it is serial battering. It is almost never the case that the batterer only abused their partner in that specific relationship.”

Batterers almost always blame the abuse on their partner.

Umbrella works to serve survivors find relief from their abuse, but as they are a non-profit organization running on donations, grants and funding, their resources may not last.

“We try to stay as aware as possible of other resources that are available in the community,” says Stoddard. “We hope we can keep providing these resources.”

For now Umbrella continues to stand firmly, helping survivors and their families.

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‘Every bit as harmful’ Emotional abuse in northeastern Vermont

Story and Photo illustration

by Erin Milne There is a childrenʼs saying that sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you.

Sam Silverman takes exception to that.

Silverman, a mental health counselor at Lyndon State College, sees the harmful power of hurtful words all the time. He saw it with “John” and “Michelle.” Their relationship started happily enough, but after Michelle moved into Johnʼs dorm, they began to see each otherʼs flaws, and this led to constant fighting and criticism.

Before long John was flying into jealous rages and punching walls, but Michelle wanted to placate him and was afraid to leave.

Cases like John and Michelleʼs

are part of a trend SIlver man calls “emotional violence,” and he sees it as every bit as harmful as physical assaults—particularly among the college-age population. Emotional violence occurs when one person uses accusatory or demeaning words or behavior rather than physical violence to gain power over or manipulate another person. While this often occurs in romantic relationships, it also occurs in friendships—in fact, Silverman cited friendships between women as one particularly vulnerable type of relationship.

“I see more pain and hurt among what females call ʻdramaʼ (than in any other type of relationship),” he says.

Silverman also noted that college-age people are especially susceptible to emotional violence because they are still growing and learning how to relate to others. This includes not only college students, but also young adults who are not in college, and both men and women are affected. In contrast, traditional physical domestic violence is less prevalent among young people because the young are more likely to simply end a relationship if it comes seriously troubled, whereas older couples, particularly those who are married, may feel trapped in their relationships, creating a situation for violence to occur, Silverman said. He added that while both emotional and

NewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInkNewsInk physical violence may occur at slightly higher rates among people in poverty, it crosses all class and educational lines, and it occurs most when alcohol or other drugs are involved.

According to LSCʼs Public Safety Director George Hacking, the college has received only three or four reports of actual domestic violence over the past five years.This low number is due to the fact that domestic violence is defined as occuring between household members, and there are not a lot of students in live-in relationships on campus. The school does not keep a specific domestic violence record, but domestic incidents get filed under assault or harassment depending on the nature of the incident. Silverman pointed out, however, that domestic violence tends to go unreported by victims, especially when a sexual assault is involved.

Emotional violence stems largely from feelings of dissatisfaction, according to Silverman. When someone feels that another person does not understand them or does not care, they lash out.

“The irrationality of wanting something in a relationship can cause a person to become someone else,” he says, “and that can look very ugly both to the person in the relationship and to people on the outside.”

Perpetrators of emotional violence often take out their frustration by accusing the other person with statements such as “You never listen to me,” Silverman said; this criticism in turn can cause the other person to react with anger. When anger ensues, aggressive behavior such as pointing fingers in another personʼs face, throwing dishes, or punching walls can follow, leading to fear in one or both parties.

Henekis Stoddard, a program coordinator and advocate at the Umbrella sexual and domestic violence advocacy organization in St. Johnsbury, says that fear is a serious consequence of emotional violence, even if the abuser never threatens the victim.

“Emotional abuse can make someone very afraid for their safety because at the end of the day, you know this person does not respect your wishes,” Stoddard said, adding that victims of emotional violence typically feel that they cannot make their own decisions on anything.

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Yet there are times when the emotional abuse does turn physical, sometimes in response to anotherʼs emotional violence. This happened to John and Michelle: Johnʼs rages quickly led him to slam Michelle against walls, choke her, and even try to sexually force himself on her. Silverman said that men often feel justified hitting a woman if they feel she insulted them.

“When men are shamed, theyʼre dangerous,” he says.

Silverman cited culture as a prime cause of emotional violence.

He said that American culture teaches men—and increasingly women—to meet their emotional needs by exhibiting power over another person.

“I would think that there is a great deal of emotional violence on campus,” Silverman said. To combat this, he counsels his patients in non-violent communication, which helps people communicate with each other and express their needs in ways that do not create fear or hostility. By Silvermanʼs own account, this is a skill that many on the LSC campus could use.

This approach did not work for John and Michelle, as John refused Michelleʼs pleas for him to go to counseling with her, but John eventually did go to Silverman on his own after he became suicidal, and he eventually found another girlfriend and ended his relationship with Michelle. Despite this, Michelle lived in fear for months afterward that John would come after her again.

Morgan Forester contributed to this story.

A poster at LSC Health Services urges students to speak out about domestic violence.

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PILLS, POLICE

AND

PREVENTION

The Drug Problem Facing The Northeast Kingdom

Nancy Bassett, co-coordinator of the Kingdom Recovery Center, stands in front of the recovery wall of fame at the KRC. The wall shows what the center has done to get the word out about substance abuse.

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Story and Photos by Eric Blaisdell Lt. Michael Henry of the Vermont State Police agrees.

Nancy Bassett didnʼt want to die.

“Our biggest problem right now is prescription drugs,” Her husband died of a heroin overdose, a month after he said. “Within the last few years it is more accessible. she was put in federal prison for possession of the same People believe that the prescription drugs are a lot safer drug. because they are manufactured in a laboratory.”

“That made it clear to me that this is what my disease, His job is enforcement to keep people from illegally what drugs do to people,” she said “It takes me to jails and using these drugs, but that job has become harder beinstitutions and my husband, it killed him. I have a son who cause he does not have the manpower to put towards preis 36 now, but 12 years ago he was in his 20s and he was vention. His job has become reactive instead of proactive. seeing what drugs were doing to his mom “Our drug unit has been cut down. and dad. I wanted to be there for him.”

We lost our federal funding for that. The Bassett has been clean for 12 years state isnʼt interested in funding that. Some and is now the co-coordinator of the Kingof our legislators donʼt really grasp the dom Recovery Center in St. Johnsbury. problem. The big picture is it affects The KRC is a volunteer based drop-in reeverybody. People that are not drug users covery center where there are peers to themselves are affected because our burhelp those in need, instead of professionglaries go up, all of our thefts go up and als. nine times out of 10 it is drug related,” he “I was hired here because I am in resaid. “People are looking for something covery,” she said. “Because who better to small (to steal and) quickly get rid of and understand someone thatʼs going through once they do that they are making the or trying to find recovery then somebody cash just to support their habit. In who has already gone through it or is essence, what you have is people being going through it themselves. We can supvictimized by these drug offenders that Two sides of the same coin, VSP Lt. are just trying to support their habit.” port each other. Itʼs not like we tell people Michael Henry (top) and Vermont Dehow to do it, but we can say well this is partment of Health Field Services DiHenry supports the VSP having acrector Gregory MacDonald (bottom) what worked for me.” cess to the Vermont Prescription Monitoreach work in different ways to combat substance abuse.

Working at the center, she hears lots ing System (see sidebar) which tracks of reasons for why people use. controlled substances that are prescribed “People drink and drug to forget. in Vermont. This access would allow the There are screwed up things going on in state police to pull up someoneʼs name their lives, and they want to forget. It from a database and be able to see all the changes their whole way of thinking. Peopharmacies that person has visited. The ple just like that high, and they donʼt realstate police could then visit all those pharize what it is actually doing to them until it macies and see what that individual has is almost too late,” she said, adding that been taking out for drugs. the local area might also be a factor.

The Vermont State Police can al“There arenʼt that many people in the ready go into any pharmacy and pull up Northeast kingdom, but a lot of them are someoneʼs profile, but admittance to the getting high, maybe because there is very VPMS would help make the job easier. little for entertainment. In a big city every“The problem is there are 400 pharbody is getting high too, but up here there macies in Vermont alone so for us to drive isnʼt much to do.” to every pharmacy and check their profile, Bassett was part of the last wave of drugs to come and that is what these people are doing, they are driving through the Northeast Kingdom where heroin was preva- from pharmacy to pharmacy that way the pharmacists lent. Now the area faces a different epidemic. arenʼt picking up on it,” said Henry. “For us to drive to every “The really scary thing now, there is still a heroin prob- pharmacy, that takes a lot of time.” lem and the people still do cocaine and all that, but the preSome, like the ACLU, have said that this program is a scription diversion,” she said. “People are passing out or civil violation and because of the opposition Henry does selling their prescriptions or stealing prescriptions. There not hold out much hope that the program will be initiated. are all these pain medication and the speed things like Ri“It doesnʼt look like we are going to be able to get into talin.” that system,” he said. “So we are still going to be doing it continued on page 14

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Vermont Prescription Monitoring System According to a report submitted to the Vermont Legislature in January by the Department of Health, in 2008, Vermont had the second highest rate per capita of admissions to treatment for prescription opiates in the United States. The Commissioner of Health, Harry Chen, has proposed allowing the state police into the Vermont Prescription Monitoring System.

According to the Vermont Department of Health, the Vermont Prescription Monitoring System helps identify individuals who may be abusing controlled substances.

The VPMS currently allows pharmacists, health care providers who prescribe controlled substances, physicians, dentists, and physician assistants to use it. When someone is prescribed and given a controlled substance their name is put into the VPMS. Those who have access to it can enter the individuals name and see all the controlled substances that individual has been prescribed. Patients can request their own records, but do not have full access to the VPMS. The VPMS does not mandate that prescribers or dispenses of controlled substances use it.

One of the problems with the VPMS is that it only takes information from Vermont. It does not have access to pharmacies in New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, or Canada. If an individual were to get a prescription filled in one of those states it would not show up in the VPMS. The Department of Health gives the example that the counties of Essex, Orange, and Windsor have the lowest prescription rates per capita in the state and suggests that this may be caused by individuals getting their prescriptions filled outside of Vermont.

the way we were before: going to all 400 pharmacies. If you can imagine that backlog, we are not effectively doing our job.”

Some people who work in substance abuse think society puts too much emphasis on law enforcement.

“Addiction is not a criminal issue; it is a health issue,” said Gregory MacDonald, Agency of Human Services Field Services Director for Newport and St. Johnsbury. “Weʼve thrown a lot of people in jail for a lot of money and without a very good outcome. We put addicts in jail instead of treating them of the disease.

Gregory When you put them in the criminal justice system there is a stigma that goes along MacDonald, with that. There is a whole criminalization Agency of Human that goes along with that and that stuff Services Field starts at a very early age.”

MacDonald spent 23 years in correcServices Director tions as a corrections officer and a probation officer before he took his current job. He has seen the problem with enforcement from the inside.

“The war on drugs was a failed social policy,” he said. “It created the corrections industrial complex, in which millions and millions of dollars was diverted from education, from health care, from peopleʼs needs and put into a correctional system that just punished people, didnʼt treat people. Didnʼt make them better, didnʼt correct people. It gave them no supports when they came out of jail. (The corrections department) was not meant to punish people, it was meant to treat people and help people. 80 to 85 percent of people in jail have substance abuse issues so something is really broken with that scenario.”

The way MacDonald would tackle the problem would be through education.

He would educate children about what drugs do to the body and mind as well as what they do to the people around the drug user. But there is not much state or federal funding for treatment of drug users, let alone prevention.

“That all takes money and peopleʼs needs are not the priority, it seems, when it comes to budgets in this country,” he said. “It is a cultural thing as to what is important. Until that changes, I donʼt see this whole scenario changing at all.”

He does, however, see the need for law enforcement and gives a metaphor about a three legged stool, where the legs are prevention, treatment, and enforcement.

“Without one of those legs, the stool falls over,” he said. “There has to be equal funding on all three of those legs or it doesnʼt work. The problem is there is not enough money for any of those legs. So none of it is working. (Legislators) need to make budget decisions that are more geared towards peopleʼs needs.”

The Kingdom Recovery Centerʼs Basset believes, because of the lack of funding, volunteer organizations like the KRC are more important than ever.

The help that she received there was the main reason she chose to become a coordinator.

“When you start going to meetings and you start going to see a substance abuse counselor, there are all kinds of people out there helping you,” Bassett said. “You canʼt make it without the help of the people around you. It is really hard to do all by yourself. As I got more confident with myself month by month, I think that is what it is all about is giving back and starting to help people.”

“Addiction is not a criminal issue, it is a health issue.”

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Graphs provided by Vermont Department of Health

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NEK Noir

Story and Photos by Samantha VanSchoick

The red four-door sedan speeds past Trooper Steve McGranaghan on Red Village Road, doing 50 in a 35 mph zone. McGranaghan makes a quick turn and hustles to catch up with lights flashing and siren wailing.

“It can be hard (to catch up), especially if you have to stop to turn around,” McGranaghan says. But within two minutes, the trooper is scanning the road for the right place to pull the speeder over.

Writing this ticket is not a simple process. The driver of the car has no

license – he says – because of a DUI from 1986. Driving with a suspended license is criminal, so McGranaghan would have to arrest the man if dispatch confirms the DUI. Dispatch: “Iʼm not finding anything.”

McGranaghan can only issue a ticket for driving without a license. He lets the speeding offense slide.

“Itʼs weird because normally (people) donʼt lie about having a DUI – unless they are saying they donʼt have one,” McGranaghan says with a

laugh.

Vermont State Trooper No. 336 is serving his third year on the VSP. He works out of the St. Johnsbury barracks, which covers almost two dozen towns in Caledonia County and the surrounding area. He does not eat donuts or drink coffee, preferring water and the occasional iced tea. He does, however, really like “Super Troopers,” a comedy about Vermont State Police officers in a fictional northern town.

“College kids ask us about

Above: VSP Trooper Steve McGranaghan talks with Shomeret Chevalier, 18, of Swanton, who survived a nighttime rollover crash on Route 15 in Danville. Chevalier, who is due to report to military basic training soon, escaped with minor scratches. Opposite Page: Trooper McGranaghan catches up on paperwork in his cruiser near the start of his 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift.

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ʻSuper Troopersʼ all the time,” McGranaghan says. “You have to be careful asking sometimes. The response depends on how many idiots they had to deal with that night.”

McGranaghan begins his 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. night shift by parking off the highway so he can call the victim of a possible identity theft and investigate. Being present on the highway, even while making phone calls, has benefits.

“If weʼre here, at least we are slowing people down.”

After the call ends, it is time to patrol. For the next few hours, McGranaghan drives the back roads, highways, and main streets of St. Johnsbury, Lyndonville, and East Burke. The ride is uneventful.

“Youʼll notice I always say ʻit depends.ʼ Thatʼs because every day is different. Some days there are no calls, and some days they are back to back.”

McGranaghan joined the VSP after two and a half years of fighting wildfires in the western United States. He studied conservation law at Unity College in Maine after serving for four years in the Marines.

Now he is a member of the VSPʼs SWAT Team, or Special Weapons and Tactics.

“If youʼre wondering why there is so much crap in my back seat, not all troopers carry this much stuff,” he says. “I gotta have everything with me that Iʼd need for a call. Thatʼs why my trunkʼs full, my back seatʼs full, so thereʼs not a lot of space. Weʼre not just all slobs.”

Candidates for the SWAT Team go through a rigorous process. “The verbal interview is to see what youʼre made of,” says McGranaghan. There is also a shooting and physical test portion. “Every tryout is a little different and theyʼre designed to give you a kick.”

The tryouts need to give a kick because members deal with high-pressure situations.

“If somebody decides that they are gonna commit a crime and they freak out and they barricade themselves in a house and they have guns and hostages – thatʼs what we respond to. Weʼve had a 72-hour stretch where we had three calls right in a row. I mean three days straight, it was crazy. But then youʼll have a six-month stretch with nothing.”

Dispatch: “Reports of a family fight in Lunenburg, trying to get more information at continued on page 18

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VSP Trooper Steve McGranaghan stops a car for speeding on Red Village Road at dusk. He tickets the driver for driving without a license but lets the speeding violation slide with an oral warning.

the moment.”

“Ten-four, Iʼll start sliding that way,” McGranaghan responds. Then he sighs. “This is when you gotta roll with the punches, because youʼre going from an accident to a family fight domestic. Just roll with it.”

Even for a trooper, it will take a half hour to get from St. Johnsbury to Lunenburg, so the county sheriffʼs office also sends someone on the call.

“This is the problem with being so spread out. That sheriff is all the way out there by himself. He might have some cops, just PD, in Lancaster (New Hampshire) who might be a little bit closer. But really, heʼs kinda just out there on his own.”

Dispatch tells McGranaghan the domestic violence suspect has left, but the alleged victim “is trying to tell me that she fell in the driveway, but I donʼt believe thatʼs what happened.”

“The dangerous thing about domestics is, right now as far as we know, the guy is gone,” the trooper says. “He assaults her, heʼs gone. He might not stay gone. You never want to go to a domestic by yourself because the victim might all the sudden turn on you because you tell the guy to put his hands behind his back and then the wife jumps on you. It all gets real messy.”

Dispatch: “I have another assault that apparently happened in Sheffield. The person that was assaulted is afraid the offender will come back.”

“Ten-four,” replies McGranaghan.

Tonight, McGranaghan is one of two troopers on duty.

“The whole county is kind of open right now.” Rookie Trooper Seth Loomis will be joining him on this call, leaving the rest of the county unpatrolled.

“Guy showed up, another guy tased him. So somebodyʼs got a stun gun up there. Heʼs worried the guy might come back,” says McGranaghan.

The “guy” is actually a juvenile and the brother of one of the alleged victims.

After talking to both the alleged victim and the accused individually, McGranaghan manages to get the truth. After being provoked by loud music, the accused juvenile pushed his sisterʼs boyfriend, who then used his stun gun to tase him in self-defense. The sister stepped between the two and was then pushed by the accused juvenile. The juvenile then ran away to a friendʼs house, where McGranaghan found him.

After McGranaghan and Loomis sort out the information, McGranaghan asks the juvenile to go to the barracks to be processed.

In the course of nine hours McGranaghan responds to two accidents, two domestic assaults, one assault, and he pulls over one speeder with no driverʼs license.

“You never know what the night is going to bring you,” he says.

For McGranaghan, it wonʼt be bringing any donuts.

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Boozing and Cruising

PDO: Property Damage Only. This table is counting the number of crashes not the number of people.

Vermont State Police Caledonia Alcohol Incidences 2009-2011 Agencies included: Caledonia Sheriff, Fish & Wildlife, Hardwick PD, Lyndon PD, St. Johnsbury PD, and the State Police.

Three of the 108 crashes had an operator refuse to give a breath test.

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WHEN AN ESCAPE GOES UNREPORTED

How Human Error Left St. Johnsbury Residents Vulnerable

Glenn Garvey and Nathan Jones recently escaped from the Northeast Correctional Facility. The townspeople were not properly notified of the escape because of human error with the notification system Photos from News 7

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St. Johnsbury residents Cecile Healy (L) and Micael Dergie (R) were both unaware that two inmates had escaped from the Northeast Correctional Facility.

The next time inmates walk away from a work camp in St. Johnsbury, Windsor will not be the first to find out about it.

After the recent escape of two inmates from the Northeast Correctional Facility in St. Johnsbury, the corrections automated system that notifies townspeople of such an event failed to work properly. It mistakenly contacted people in Windsor instead of St. Johnsbury because of human error when the wrong box was checked on which town to notify.

Corrections is now taking new steps to prevent the same thing happening again. As of now the call system can only call to the city of origin, so St. Johnsbury can only call St. Johnsbury. Also, there is now going to be more oversight of the system from a central location in order to catch any possible mistakes.

In order to be called one must register their phone with corrections by sending a letter, but corrections is currently working on an online interface that would allow them to streamline that process.

These changes would help the townspeople who were left unaware of the escaped inmates.

"I realized that there was a lot of vehicles, a number of vehicles going back and forth. I saw a couple of state troopers driving up and down the road," said St. Johnsbury resident Michael Dergie when asked how he found out about the prison break. Other residents expressed their concern on how the call system did not inform them and the families of the area.

“We don't have any children but I think that it would be something that the neighborhood would want to know about,” said St. Johnsbury resident Cecile Healy, who lives right across from the woods that the two inmates were brought out of.

Those inmates were Glenn Garvey, 23, and Nathan Jones, 25, who walked away from the outside area of the Northeast Correctional Facility. A police search for the two started very soon afterward.

"Fresh footprints in the snow were easy to track. We

sent two guys into the woods. One was a detective the other a uniformed trooper," said St. Johnsbury State Police Station Commander Lt Michael Henry. Using a combined police effort, which included a borrowed K9 unit as well as a border patrol helicopter, the police caught the two within only a few hours.

Despite the escape, St. Johnsbury Selectman Kevin Oddy, who has 24 yearsʼ experience in corrections, still thinks the facility has things under control.

“I think corrections does an incredibly good job of managing that risk,” he said. “If you look at the history, less the two that walked away recently, it has been years since there has been an escape. The two that walked away were nonviolent offenders. I donʼt think their heart was really in escape. They didnʼt get very far. They were apprehended quickly and dealt with appropriately.”

He sees the jail and work camp as positives for the town.

“The work camp provides this town with a lot of labor at hugely reduced costs to handle projects that, frankly, we couldnʼt pay for if it wasnʼt for the work camp,” Oddy said. He went on to talk about the other economic benefits the facility brings, namely jobs. “They are good jobs,” he said. “They are well paying jobs. Itʼs a career ladder for people. There are folks who start there and retire there. State jobs are good jobs. They offer a good wage, a good benefit package. It is certainly an advantage for the town.”

The Commissioner of Corrections Andrew Pallito is planning on attending the next St. Johnsbury Select Board meeting on March 26 to discuss the system.

You can register you landline phone and your cell phone. You can even receive a text message or email.

And now corrections has the ability to post to Facebook and Twitter, all methods just trying to keep the public informed and safe.

Reporting by Aaron Kormos and Eric Blaisdell Editing by Eric Blaisdell Photography by Erik Randlov