Waterbury, VT Considers Closing Police Department, Voters to Dec - FOX44 - Burlington / Plattsburgh News, Weather & Sports

Come November, the fate of the Waterbury Police Department will be in the hands of voters.  For some, it could be a tough decision as village trustees decided to stick it on the ballot.

Times are so fiscally tough for the Village of Waterbury, Vt., it may actually do away with it's police department.

There is a lot of things, but the main thing seems to be the budget.

Skip Flanders, President of the Watebury Village Trustees, says despite cuts, the Waterbury Police Department still receives  more than 80% of the yearly budget. He says with only about 1,700 residents, that money could, instead, be used for economic development.

"If the police department were to be shutdown, like surrounding Duxbury and Waterbury Town, the village would be patrolled by Vermont State Police. That could increase response time 15 - 20 minutes or even more than that," Flanders said.

"If there are 2 or 3 troopers on and they're at an accident in Williamstown, Vt. how long will it take to get here?" Joby Feccia, Waterbury Police Chief, said.

Feccia believes response time would drastically go up because Vermont State Police already cover a lot of ground.

"I've always had within 5 minutes or less. So, what if it goes up to 15 or 20?" Francis Jacob, Waterbury resident, said. "By the time they get here it's over with. You don't have the response time, you don't have the quality of service and you don't have the quality of people."

Flanders says the community as a whole has mixed feelings about the department.

"The trustees are neutral on the position, we really want voters to express for having a police department and continuing or is it time that other priorities are going to take issue," Flanders said.

The village has already merged its fire and public works departments with the town of Waterbury, Vt.