-The Windham County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) invites the public to a series of public meetings about the Windham County Sheriff's Regional Policing Initiative, its effort to improve access to rural law enforcement through shared services across municipalities.
According a WCSO news release, the initiative was launched in 2023 and is focused "on addressing the needs of the many Windham County towns that do not have their own municipal police departments."
By fostering collaboration and sharing resources among towns, the goal is to provide more consistent, reliable, and affordable policing to underserved areas, said Sheriff Mark Anderson, who is leading the initiative.
"I fundamentally believe people need access to emergency services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. How do we make it affordable? How do we govern it? How do we fund it?" he said. "Our current system is a 60% solution."
The push for regionalization is not new. Numerous studies commissioned over the last 70 years by the Legislature, state, and independent researchers have consistently recommended regional law enforcement services as a necessary step forward for Vermont's rural communities.
WCSO will host four public engagement events to hear from community members, answer questions, and share information about potential models for regional policing and the future of policing in rural Vermont:
• Thursday, July 31, at 5:30 p.m. at the Jamaica Selectboard Meeting Room, 28 Town Office Rd.
• Saturday, Aug. 2, at 10 a.m. at the Marlboro Community Center, 524 South Rd.
• Wednesday, Aug. 6, at 5:30 p.m. at the NewBrook Fire Department, 698 Vermont Route 30, Newfane.
• Thursday, Aug. 7, at 5:30 p.m. at the Putney Fire Department, 21 Carl Snyder Dr.
Based on the public's feedback, the WSCO will schedule a future meeting and present a proposal for future action.
For more information about the WSCO, visit windhamcountyvt.gov.
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