Brattleboro sees results in their private security program
BRATTLEBORO VT February 10th, 2024 — Since contracting to hire private security guards to keep an eye on the Transportation Center starting in the summer, police and town officials have been happy with the progress they’ve seen.
“We’ve consistently gotten some good, positive feedback from people using the parking garage about having a presence in it,” Assistant Police Chief Jeremy Evans said at the Select Board meeting Tuesday.
In September, after two months of running the program, the police department provided an initial report. Its success had been touted at the time, too. Police were receiving fewer complaints and hearing fewer concerns about criminal activity and people sleeping or hanging out in the facility.
From October to January, the volume of calls to the area have stayed about the same. Incidents involve less violence and vandalism but more medical responses, Evans said.
Another security guard also has been hired to keeps tabs on other town properties downtown such as the Municipal Center and Brooks Memorial Library.
“I don’t really have any good statistical data for you on that,” Evans said, “but I can tell you that we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback, especially the library. The library has been very positive about having additional presence stuff down there during their open hours.”
Police Chief Norma Hardy said having a uniformed security guard roaming the parking garage “helped us to have more coverage there” and also acted as a deterrent to crime.
“We feel it has made a difference,” she said.
In 2022, the police department received 22 calls from the public about suspicious people or suspicious circumstances in the parking garage. Last year, there were seven.
In the same time frame, the police department went from receiving eight reports of thefts to two.
“I think the police department has done a great job using some innovative approaches to get more eyes and ears in the area,” Town Manager John Potter said. “But also the Department of Public Works has really stepped up their presence there as well and they’ve been doing a lot of extra cleaning and giving extra attention to detail there, and I think that should also help people feel more comfortable in the facility and willing to park there.”
Security guards had been hired as a stop gap until the police department had full coverage. Hardy noted the 17-week period it takes for a candidate to go through the police academy, which only hosts two sessions per year, then the additional 12 weeks a candidate spends training with an officer. Candidates can drop off during the academy or field training.
Currently, seven candidates are enrolled in the police academy. Hardy said the department would be close to being fully staffed if all seven are successful, but that doesn’t mean another officer won’t retire or find another job.
Potter credited Hardy, Evans and Human Resources Director Sally Nix with “solid recruitment efforts and doing a really good job on that.”
“They’re not stopping,” Potter said. “They already have two more folks identified for the summer.”
