Chester Citizen Police Advisory Committee holds its first meeting

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC

The newly appointed members of Chester’s Citizen Police Advisory Committee came together for an initial meeting Tuesday night at the Public Safety Building on Pleasant Street. The committee’s members — Frank Kelley, Samantha Snedorf-Bailey, Roy Spaulding, Wendi Germain and Vincent Buckholz —  were appointed by the Chester Select Board at its March 22 meeting.

The five-member committee got a tour of the fire, ambulance and police areas from Police Chief Tom Williams and Town Manager Julie Hance before settling into the training room to begin mapping out what they would be doing in their new public roles. The committee elected Frank Kelley to chair the meetings with Vincent Buckholz serving as vice chair and Wendi Germain taking on the duties of secretary.

The group also decided to meet on the second Tuesday of each month at the Public Safety Building but changed that to Town Hall for greater ease of public access and the sense of security for those who might have a complaint or fear the police.

Hance told the committee that their role was envisioned as a bridge between the Chester community and its police. She sees the group “focusing on Chester and the Chester community” and to help define what that community wants from its police force. She hoped the result would be that residents would see Chester’s police officers as a source of help and not fear them.

While Hance told the board that it is independent and could chart its own course, she said there were several items she would like to see them look at. Those included reviewing police policies, being part of an “oral board” in the selection of a new lieutenant and data analysis to see what the police are being called to do and how to deliver the service.

Hance also said the town is looking at creating a standalone police website that would be more user-friendly and contain data on what the police are called to do, police policies and a clear explanation of the process for making a complaint.

The discussion turned to calls that Williams said are more social service than law enforcement. He said that police are not social workers, but that organizations that handle mental health and social services have not been responsive to requests for help. Germain, who works for Health Care and Rehabilitation Services of Vermont, said she would look into that.

Hance said that the town does not have a full-time social worker, but they may look into sharing one with another police department.

“There’s a lot of need in this community,” said Hance.

Referring to a neighborhood’s issue with one resident recently discussed by the Select Board, Williams said he sees this kind of response as a way to stop problems before they become crimes.

“My neighbor’s door is open and I’m hungry,” said Williams, “and that becomes a crime.” He said that a social service intervention might be able to prevent those situations.

“We’re a tool,” said Williams. “We work for the community. We are there to enforce that law but not every situation is ‘law enforcement’… that’s what we are trying to do with community policing – let’s come up with what works for Chester.

Hance suggested using the same agenda at the next meeting with the addition of helping to develop a department mission and values statement. Williams suggested that the department’s values statement would be displayed on new cruisers as they come into service.

The next meeting of the advisory committee, which is open to the public, will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9 at Town Hall, 556 Elm St. in Chester.