Incidents Prompt Safety Concerns Statewide

Author: Mary Christine Kwiatek

Several recent crimes in local communities have raised questions of residents' safety in Vermont.

In October, for example, a student was assaulted in Hadley Hall at Middlebury College, prompting the College's Office of Public Safety to begin locking residence halls at night as a means of deterring crime.

Reflecting a similar concern with safety, Middlebury's UD-3 school board unanimously voted last Tuesday to have a police officer work at Middlebury Union High School (MUHS) full time.

In addition, the two teenagers, Robert Tulloch and James Parke, responsible for last year's murder of Dartmouth College professors Half and Susanne Zantop admitted last week to attempting to force entry into four Vermont homes in a six-month period prior to the murders.

In response to these incidents, the College and local communities have implemented measures to ensure students' and residents' safety.

Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley said he feels that having a full-time police officer at MUHS is a valuable resource for the students. He added that the majority of the calls to which the police department responds to come from the high school.

By mandating that a police officer be present at all times, the department will avoid having officers traveling back and forth to MUHS for every call.

According to Hanley, "Most things that go on in the high school are conduct related: fights, locker issues, bomb scares and drugs."

The more time the officer spends in the school, the more confidence the students have in him, Hanley added.

The decision to place a police officer at MUHS was a proactive one. In addition to ensuring student safety, the officer will also be available to assist students with personal and family problems, with the goal of building a positive rapport with the adolescents.

In addition, the program will try to incorporate an instructional component, such as having the officer teach drivers education and criminal justice classes at the high school.

Hanley is optimistic about the school board's decision and assures the community that the officer is "not a security guard."

Students at MUHS are also excited about the step. In fact, approximately 40 representatives of the student body voted on whether students felt a need for full-time police presence at their school.

The results were unanimous in favor of the board's proposal. The overwhelming student approval confirms Chief Hanley's belief that the police department and the school system should not be viewed as "two separate entities."

Hanley continued, "I want the school to be an environment that remains safe and healthy, where students can get the best education possible."

The new police program represents one step that has been taken locally to protect an already safe community.

On a statewide scale, Vermont's crime rate has come into the spotlight.

The news that Tulloch and Parke attempted to lure several Vermont residents into their deadly scheme has made many Vermonters feel at risk.

This has served as a wake-up call for Vermonters — leading people to realize that simply living in Vermont does not guarantee personal safety.

Crime occurs everywhere, and often it is the naivety and false sense of security that attract criminals.

According to the Disaster Center Web site and statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Vermont has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.

During the 1990s, Vermont had an average rate of 2.1 murders per 100,000 residents each year. This data compares with an average of 3.0 murders per 100,000 residents in Massachusetts, 9.9 in California and 6.7 in Alaska.

For the year 2000, Vermont had the 44th highest reported crime rate relative to population, indicating that although the state is not insulated from criminal activity, it has one of the lowest rates of crime in the country.

But the recent crimes on the campus, town and state level have made Vermonters more cautious about their own safety.

Hanley said that the police department wants to "take a safe system and keep it safe."

Hanley recognizes, though, that there is no way to guarantee safety, even in a small rural state like Vermont.

As Hanley remarked, "We don't have castle walls around the state of Vermont."