After 6 years of rising crime rates, Royalton residents form a public safety committee

ROYALTON, Vermont (WCAX) – At their wits' end, Royalton residents flocked to the senior center to talk about the amazing changes they are seeing in their town.

Beth Willhite lives in a modest home in a quiet neighborhood of Royalton, which is why it was so unexpected when someone broke into her house in October 2023.

“Complaining is not a solution, as my grandmother always said, and doing nothing is not an option because now my family's safety is at stake,” Willhite said.

This is one of the reasons she formed the Royalton Public Safety Committee and decided to hold a public forum with the Vermont State Police, the Royalton Police Chief and her community.

Officials and residents agreed on how much the increased crime since 2018 has shaken the community. Many participants shared their personal experiences as victims of crime.

Across the state, the picture is similar: drug and alcohol use lead to crimes like theft, county police are understaffed and overworked, repeat offenders violate release conditions and return to the streets due to court backlogs, and judges make what many residents call “questionable decisions.”

“Burlington has its own public safety crisis. The city of St. Albans is facing its own unique public safety crisis, the city of Royalton may have its own public safety problem. It's not the same everywhere,” said Ted Brady of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns.

Brady commissioned a report on public safety in the state, and the results were not surprising. He says while it's not the same story, Vermont's cities and towns all face the same troubling intersection of the opioid crisis, mental health issues and underfunded policing.

“In many of these cities, the police are the only ones responding, and that's probably not the right solution. That's why places like Burlington and St. Albans often add more integrated public mental health staff to their police departments,” Brady said.

So what can be done?

A public safety committee is established in Royalton, with almost all of the forum participants agreeing to join.

They plan to create several neighborhood watch groups with training, and hope to form subcommittees, one with a close, direct relationship with emergency services, another to lobby legislators, and a third to try to work with the district attorney.

“I don't know what the solution is, but I know we need to come together. We need to start talking. We need to start working some things out,” Willhite said.

Willhite says there will be another public safety forum in October and hopes to finalize plans or the legislative session in January.

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