FY2027 town budget proposal contains major increases for fire and police; department heads say why they must reach critical mass in their staffing in order to make Hinesburg safe.
i believe that police protection could still be coordinated with Richmond with the purpose of reducing the separate budgets of each department by combining the services of each. The key is the reduction of the proposed budget which seems basically out of control and subject to continuing demand for more. Living in Hinesburg is already very expensive. And is there any comparison of our crime rate to other towns, so that we can get an idea of whether or not the crime rate here is out of control in relation to other communities? This all sounds a little like Trump's sending the National Guard to selected cities, using the excuse that crime is rampant.
I am not in favor of increasing the police budget without a more concerted effort to combine the police forces of Richmond and Hinesburg. Seems to me that something beneficial to both towns could be negotiated. Just to vote in favor of increasing the police budget here in Hinesburg, let's the negotiation process off the hook. As in, it's easier to build our own force, rather than try and hammer out a constructive agreemtn with our neighboring town, or towns, for that matter.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, Robert.
You raise a good point regarding statistics, but the dilemma with the data is that it's not fully comparable: with fewer police, there are fewer encounters/incidents directly handled by HPD and so some data is split with Vermont State Police. I am inquiring whether the VSP have specific stats on Hinesburg crime rates, but again this wouldn't be comparable since in years past, VSP did less or no coverage of the town.
Totally agree Robert, we can't afford more officers without someone helping pay for them. All Hinesburg seems to have is petty crime, which if punished more severely would help alleviate. Funny not that long ago 2 officers was enough.
i believe that police protection could still be coordinated with Richmond with the purpose of reducing the separate budgets of each department by combining the services of each. The key is the reduction of the proposed budget which seems basically out of control and subject to continuing demand for more. Living in Hinesburg is already very expensive. And is there any comparison of our crime rate to other towns, so that we can get an idea of whether or not the crime rate here is out of control in relation to other communities? This all sounds a little like Trump's sending the National Guard to selected cities, using the excuse that crime is rampant.
I am not in favor of increasing the police budget without a more concerted effort to combine the police forces of Richmond and Hinesburg. Seems to me that something beneficial to both towns could be negotiated. Just to vote in favor of increasing the police budget here in Hinesburg, let's the negotiation process off the hook. As in, it's easier to build our own force, rather than try and hammer out a constructive agreemtn with our neighboring town, or towns, for that matter.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, Robert.
You raise a good point regarding statistics, but the dilemma with the data is that it's not fully comparable: with fewer police, there are fewer encounters/incidents directly handled by HPD and so some data is split with Vermont State Police. I am inquiring whether the VSP have specific stats on Hinesburg crime rates, but again this wouldn't be comparable since in years past, VSP did less or no coverage of the town.
Geoff Gevalt
Totally agree Robert, we can't afford more officers without someone helping pay for them. All Hinesburg seems to have is petty crime, which if punished more severely would help alleviate. Funny not that long ago 2 officers was enough.