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The city of Barre is committed to combating drug-related crime in public spaces

In Barre City, the mayor's office, police and residents are working together to make public spaces more pleasant without being affected by drug-related crimes. Barre City police are changing their patrol strategy to combat drug-related nuisance in the city. In recent months, there has been an increase in police calls for loitering, drug dealing or violent outbursts. “It makes me sad when residents don't feel safe doing that, when they don't feel comfortable doing that. And like I said, it's not about someone who may not look like you enjoying the park. It's about someone who is doing illegal things to stop doing it,” Mayor Thom Lauzon said. Local business owners said the activity extends beyond local parks, where some have seen children being harassed, physical altercations and even people incapacitated on the steps of the library and church. “I just don't know if we need to be stronger. And as far as the laws, I really don't know what the answer is. You know, I'm not heartless. I feel terrible about the situation and about the addicts. It's really sad,” said Valerie Beaudet, a restaurant owner across the street from City Hall Park. “I don't know what the answer is, but I know as a business owner, for all of us in the city, that's not feasible. We can't keep going like this.” Barre police are currently operating at half staff and have to adapt to the city's demands. Assistant Police Chief Larry Eastand told NBC5 they're testing new strategies every patrol. “Right now, I don't think it's a homeless situation, but more of a drug crisis. I believe we have a drug crisis at least 80%,” Beaudet said. Barre City Manager Nicolas Storellicastro agreed. “We're going to make sure one way or another that we have coverage because we believe it's essential for the city's residents who want to use these public spaces,” he said. “You know, people who are housed or homeless are involved in these activities. So that's why we're focused here on preventing that, because we want people to be able to use these public spaces comfortably and safely.” Lauzon said there has to be a compromise to stop the crimes, but he respects the homeless population. “This is behavior that our officers have addressed on a regular basis. But we quickly realized we need more resources,” he said. NBC5 spoke with Barre Deputy Police Chief Larry Eastand and he stressed that “homelessness is not a crime” and that they're focused on the criminal elements. “And you know, I know everyone's saying not near me, but I just feel like I have a facility next door here, a health and wellness clinic. You know, it's a free clinic. I have like a Section 8 to my left. I'm just surrounded. And now they want to put another facility here,” Beaudet said. The police department has a community outreach specialist and an integrated health clinician in the department to help them work with individuals struggling with mental illness during deployments. Eastand said, “They are guardians, not enforcers of the community.”

BARRE, Vermont —

In Barre City, the mayor's office, police and residents are working together to make public spaces more pleasant without the influence of drug-related crime.

The Barre City Police Department is changing its patrol strategy to combat drug-related harassment in the city.

In recent months there has been an increase in calls to the police related to loitering, drug dealing or violent outbursts.

“It makes me sad when residents don't feel safe doing this, when they don't feel comfortable doing this. And like I said, this isn't about someone who may not look like you enjoying the park. This is about someone engaging in illegal behavior and they're going to stop,” said Mayor Thom Lauzon.

Local business owners said the activity extends beyond local parks. Some of them have observed children being harassed, physical altercations and even people being incapacitated on the steps of the library and church.

“I just don't know if we need to be stronger. And as far as laws go, I really don't know what the answer is. You know, I'm not heartless. I feel terrible about the situation and about the people who are addicted. It's really sad,” said Valerie Beaudet, a restaurant owner across from City Hall Park. “I don't know what the answer is, but I know as a business owner for all of us in the city, this is not feasible. We can't keep going like this.”

The Barre Police Department is currently only half staffed and must adapt to the needs of the city.

Deputy Chief Larry Eastand told NBC5 they test new strategies on every patrol.

“Right now, I don't think this is so much a homelessness crisis as it is a drug crisis. I think we have at least 80 percent of a drug crisis,” Beaudet said.

Barre City Administrator Nicolas Storellicastro agreed.

“We're going to make sure we have coverage one way or another because we believe it's essential for residents of the city who want to use these public spaces,” he said. “You know, people who are housed or homeless are involved in these activities. So our focus here is to prevent that because we want people to be able to use these public spaces comfortably and safely.”

Lauzon said there must be a compromise to stop the crime, but he respects the homeless population.

“Our officers have addressed this behavior regularly. But we quickly realized that we need more resources,” he said.

NBC5 spoke with Barre Deputy Police Chief Larry Eastand and he stressed that “homelessness is not a crime” and that they are focusing on the criminal elements.

“You know, everyone says not near me, but I just feel like I have a health and wellness clinic next door here. You know, it's a free clinic. To my left is like a Section 8. I'm just surrounded. And now they want to put another facility here,” Beaudet said.

The police department has a community outreach specialist and an in-house health therapist who assist them in working with individuals struggling with mental illness during operations.

Eastand said: “They are guardians, not enforcers of the community.”

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