Likes Woodstock’s

Police Solution

I think that a Woodstock style police solution would do nicely for Randolph. I don't expect to see shiny new cruisers tooling down my road at all hours. I just want them to come when they're called. I also don't think that a two-tier tax system would cause the village and the town to spin off into separate orbits, never to unite again.

In case you are not aware, a special committee of the Vermont legislature is studying the whole issue of police coverage in Vermont, focusing on its spotty nature. One of the things they are considering is a requirement that all towns over 3000 people follow the New Hampshire model and provide for their own policing. The committee is chaired by Rep. Sweaney who is also chair of the Government Operations Committee. I'm sure that if you contact her with your views she will bring them before the committee.

A long time ago, before 911 was invented, when local calls only required five digit dialing, I was something of an involuntary police dispatcher. My home number in Springfield had the same last four digits as the Chester police. Sometimes Springfield persons in crisis would look on the inside cover of the regional phone book for the emergency numbers, where Chester was listed first. They would assume that the first digit was a five not a six, and get me.

I vividly remember one such caller saying "Help us please, he's done beatin' me and he's gone after the kids!" Try telling someone like that they've got the wrong number. It sticks with you.

I honestly think a lot of Vermonters think that more police means more interference in their affairs, or at least more traffic tickets. I also think that quite a few think that if you have an emergency other than fire or medical that it must be your own darn fault.

We live in a new kind of world where people from outside are coming in trying to turn our kids to highly addictive drugs, which they'll have to pay for with property crime. If you want to fight this battle yourself, go ahead and try. Myself, I'll take some help from the police.

Peter Magoon

Randolph Center