City police cite progress vs. drugs – Rutland Herald

Rutland City Police Chief Brian Kilcullen delivers his departments annual crime report Wednesday night at the Franklin Conference Center. ROBERT LAYMAN / STAFF PHOTO

Leaders of the city Police Department said Wednesday night crime statistics indicate Rutland is making progress against drug abuse.

Police Chief Brian Kilcullen said the drop in cashready crimes such as shoplifting offered an indication that addiction is waning in the city.

As treatment increases, these types of crimes have gone down, he said. Were hoping to formalize that research.

Shoplifting was down from 134 incidents to 88 a 34 percent drop. Thefts from motor vehicles went from 90 to 64 (down 29 percent) and thefts from buildings went from 78 to 63 (19 percent).

Not everything went down. Burglaries were up slightly, from 82 to 88, but still well down from the 123 in 2014. Thefts of bicycles remained steady at 19.

Theres not much we can do about that, Kilcullen said. Someone doesnt want to walk, theyre going to take a bike.

The statistics made drug arrests seem exceedingly rare they only showed two arrests for selling drugs in 2016 and none in 2015 but Kilcullen said this was misleading.

Those numbers arent huge because a lot of the drug enforcement is being done on a task force basis, he said. The numbers youre seeing here are attributed to Rutland City police officers. We have nobody at the task force right now, and thats where a lot of the work is being done.

While no statistics were offered Wednesday on overdoses, Cmdr. David LaChance said they were up in the city, mirroring statewide and national trends. He said plans to better address that issue are under development.

Cmdr. Matthew Prouty discussed how the overall mission of the police department has shifted in a direction he expects will begin to reduce overdoses and otherwise alleviate drug issues, with officers focused on getting people help.

The nature of the department has to be that addicts, homeless, folks with mental health issues, the down-and-outers, are members of our community that deserve our help, he said.

Cmdr. Scott Tucker, who serves as executive director of Project VISION as well, described an addict telling police that when she got sober, she realized a police officer and her probation officer were the only people who cared about her.

The presentation went beyond straight crime statistics, and included a recent survey that found people in the city are feeling safer as well.

Conducted by Neighbor- Works of Western Vermont in the area of the northwest neighborhood targeted for revitalization, the survey found that from 2013 to 2016, the people who said they felt very safe in their homes during the day shot up from about 15 percent to about 80 percent, with those feeling somewhat or very unsafe going from 30 percent to about 5 percent.

The improved comfort level at night was not quite as dramatic, with those feeling very safe at home going from slightly more than 20 percent to slightly more than 60 percent, and those feeling unsafe going from about 20 percent to about 10 percent.

Satisfaction with police response shifted upward as well, with those rating it good or very good climbing from almost 60 percent to almost 70 percent.

Wed like that to be a little higher, but were encouraged that people are saying something positive, Tucker said.

gordon.dritschilo @rutlandherald.com

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City police cite progress vs. drugs - Rutland Herald