April 17 2024 Newsletter

 

 

  

Trivia April 17^th: Benefits Windham Regional Career Center/ FBLA

 

Brattleboro History Tours are Saturday April 27^th and May 18^th:   Sandy and Jon report that their first tour of the season had 6 people, some of which found the event online. Jon especially loves when kids attend and ask lots of interesting questions! A huge thanks to Jon Potter who always helps with the Latchis segment of the tour. His constant support is much appreciated. Link to tour info/sign-up is below:

Scholarship Crew: Debra says scholarships are due May 1^st. Application letters have been sent out to local schools. Now waiting for applications.

 

Vermont Green-Up Day: Saturday May 4^th: Nick says those interested in attending should meet at the Market 32 parking lot at 9:00 to pick up green trash bags. Wear good shoes, bring gloves and potential reflective clothing. Graspers will also help.

 

Deb: For the incredible turnout to spread mulch at the Rotary garden. D & E Tree donated mulch. Was able to get everything spread quickly, even in the rain.

Nick: Going to Jamaica next week for spring break.

Justin: Culinary program at the high school. They came in 2^nd place at the Culinary Institute of America. 1^st place in Vermont and fell short of 1^st place nationally by only 2 points!

Will: Large event at the Royal Tyler Theater at the University of Vermont. Original cast members from the 1974 cast came to sing the same songs they sang at the same place at the age of 19.

 

Cards:  Nick won $46!

 

 

Police Chief Norma Hardy

 

Chief Hardy’s introduction by Kevin: She began her career in law enforcement 32 years ago with the Police Department of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, retiring as assistant chief.

 

Chief Hardy is also an EMT.

 

She served as a police officer at various Port Authority facilities for 10 years, getting promoted to construction sergeant at the World Trade Center site in 2002 to executive officer at the World Trade Center site in 2006. She then became police captain and commanding officer of the Holland and Lincoln tunnels in 2008. After that she became the police inspector and northern zone commander in 2011 - then to chief of Port Authority Bridges, Tunnels and New Jersey Airports in 2013.

 

She has received numerous internal commendations and external awards during her career with the Port Authority, including the 2014 Officer of the Year Award from the International Association of Women Police and the 2016 Trailblazer Award from the National Organization of Black Women in Law Enforcement.

 

Chief Hardy:

-May 11^th basketball event at the high school with the Wizards – sponsored by the police department.

-Her largest pet peeve is the number of drug dealers in Brattleboro. Overdoses are common here so the police department is trying to tackle the supply chain in to Brattleboro.

-When the chief started, we were down 10 police officers. We now have 4 officers and 4 in the academy so by the end of the year the department will be at full staff!

Recruits are in the police academy for 17 weeks – then spend another 12 weeks on the street for training.

-Recruitment is hard across the board for law enforcement.

-Chief Hardy tries to do 2 family days a year for the department.

-She encourages her team to walk around the community to interact with people to answer questions – aka community policing. She also tries to check in with local store owners.

-Chief says her department is frustrated by the court and legislators because often people arrested are immediately released.

-They work very closely with Turning Point to spread the word about the state of drugs on the street. They communicate when bad drugs are discovered.

-H72 Bill: Bringing in overdose prevention site to Brattleboro. Burlington wants it and the Chief does not want it. She believes we instead need long-term treatment facilities here and sober living facilities.

-Praises town manager John Potter for trying to bring the leads of different organizations like HCRS & Groundworks to the table to coordinate programs.

-Another example of community policing is that the police department drives people to treatment if necessary.

-Praises her department and for what they’ve done to reduce the smash and grabs at local businesses. The problem, again, is that the people arrested then get released by the judicial system. Because there are no good long-term treatment facilities here, people often resort to crime to get by.

-The police department also checks in with the Chamber of Commerce and the DBA through John Potter to provide support as needed.

-The Chief has not seen a difference in emergency care since the fire department took over and expects things to get better after the fire department completes the transition this summer.