Franklin County Sheriff's Office looks outward; St. Albans Police Department rolls out coverage of city July 1 | Local News

FRANKLIN COUNTY — With the St. Albans Police Department set to expand its policing coverage to the city of St. Albans on July 1, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office is making its own operational changes.

The county agency will launch new contracts this summer to cover Highgate and Sheldon, while dropping a previous contract with Enosburgh. Meanwhile, Fairfax will reduce its coverage to five days a week, from seven, while Richford and Montgomery consider their options.

“I've met with all the boards, especially the ones that we have contracts with, to try to look at renewing those contracts and what that would look like,” Sheriff John Grismore said.

Updated contracts

Since the City of St. Albans and the City of St. Albans agreed to move forward with a combined St. Albans Police Department, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office – which previously covered the city – has prepared for the upcoming change in coverage by looking outward and seeking to contract with other communities in Franklin County.

Grismore said he has had some success. In the past year, local residents and city commissions have again called for increased law enforcement after seeing a trend in property crimes, retail thefts, disorderly conduct and drugs, and the sheriff's office has tried to meet that demand by engaging in discussions with those interested.

Highgate was at the top of the list. The city had a contract with the St. Albans City Police Department for eight hours a week, but the department decided to end its coverage due to capacity issues following the expansion into the City of St. Albans.

Now, Highgate will move to 40 hours a week under the sheriff's office starting July 1. The three-year contract starts at about $190,000 a year.

“Our city, like all other cities, is facing an increase in commercial thefts and burglaries. The drug problem is still there, so more coverage would help,” said Highgate Town Administrator Sharon Bousquet.

The city of Sheldon also sought a contract in June after the selection committee considered a two-year contract for 10 hours per week.

“Sheldon is an area that was previously largely neglected, so we're able to step in there, a little here, a little there, and meet some of their needs, especially traffic control,” Grismore said .

Enosburgh, however, turned to the Vermont State Police.

While Grismore has had success in some cities, policing costs have caused others to withdraw. Enosburgh was a longtime client of the sheriff's office, but local concerns about the office's ability to fulfill its 40-hour-a-week contract caused negotiations to collapse. The city will lose coverage starting Sunday and go full time with VSP.

“One of the challenges we've had is we've had to significantly increase our costs, our pricing model,” Grismore said.

Like many other government jobs facing inflation, policing costs have risen. Grismore cited health care costs, workers' compensation, taxes and a tight labor market as reasons for much of the increase.

Due to Enosburgh abandoning the contract, Richford will also lose office coverage, although there are currently offers on the table, Grismore said. If the sheriff's office can convince neighboring towns, there could also be a chance for a regional approach.

Regional police

Looking ahead, Grismore is optimistic about the office. Although it is at the center of a special impeachment commission deployed by the Vermont House of Representatives, it has largely retreated to focus on finding the right niches in which to operate after the the committee was dissolved.

As police costs have increased for everyone, Grismore said he might consider a way to add up the various contract hours to form a larger regional department. He gave the example of Montgomery, Richford and Enosburgh working together to provide the funding to put together a two-person team to cover those areas.

“We have the opportunity to be present in each community 40 hours a week. “It’s a huge burden to take off the shoulders of the state police,” he said.

Swanton had tried a similar approach, but a residents do not vote on a new construction bond Immediate plans were abandoned. That leaves the 12 cities in the county available to mix and match depending on what services people are looking for.

“We could create zones, like north, south, east and west Franklin County,” he said. “So this is an opportunity for us, and I think it would be a great fit for some of these smaller towns, like Fletcher, that maybe don't necessarily need all of these services, but might say, 'Hey, look, we have a speeding problem at a certain time of day. »

One challenge Grismore faces is his past reputation. Enosburgh, for example, was drawn into Grismore's impeachment inquiry after residents feared the office would not be able to meet its contractual obligations of 40 hours of coverage per week.

This difficult relationship had repercussions on future negotiations between the two parties. The city of Enosburgh had requested a six-month contract, as well as GPS tracking data from police vehicles.

Grismore said he could not fulfill those obligations. A six-month contract would impose unfair constraints on his employees, he said, and GPS data would reveal MPs' home addresses.

Across the county, however, Highgate is much more willing to move on. After contemplating a future without police coverage, residents are more than willing to pay to see more police cars and less crime. Grismore's past is largely a moot point.

“It comes down to, ‘Who else is there?’” Bousquet said. “We’re very limited and they know that. We know that. But we prefer to go in with a positive attitude.”