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Dedication & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Scrapbook The Williston Police found the year 2009 to be challenging and constantly changing. The Department has handled approximately 4000 complaints and calls for service this past year. Our Department has been able to answer those calls for service all while being understaffed with 2 vacant Officer positions for most of the year. Effective November 30, 2009 Chief James N. Dimmick resigned as Chief for the Williston Police Department. We are saddened to see Chief Dimmick leave us, yet we are certainly left with so many positive changes that he initiated here. We have been able to grow into a more professional and elite police force due to the direction he gave us and we will forever be grateful for his service to the Town of Williston. Chief Dimmick's brand of professionalism and experience is hard to find in this day and age and he will be truly missed. The number of complaints and calls for service this year are less than last year yet the types of calls have changed drastically. We are noticing some disturbing trends develop in Williston involving the use of drugs and the types of drugs that are being used. In 2007 our Officers handled 37 drug cases. Of those 37, 24 were Marijuana related and the remaining 13 were other drugs. This past year to date we have handled 39 cases where 20 of those involved possession and/or sale of cocaine, heroin or other narcotics including prescription drugs. These drugs are more dangerous as the addiction that accompanies them is more severe and can cause addicts to commit crimes in order to feed their addiction. We cannot ignore these trends as our Officers work hard to keep our community, residents and visitors safe. It is also important to remember that so far in 2009 we have had almost twice the number of DUI arrests than any other year in our department’s history. The fact is there are drunk drivers in our town on a daily basis. Williston Police have a zero tolerance for drivers who are intoxicated and are diligent about apprehending individuals who make the choice to place our citizens and visitors in harm's way. We have also noticed a rise in underage drinking; these incidents are also higher than previous years. At this time our Officers are working 12 hour rotating shifts and are making more arrests and conducting more traffic enforcement than almost any other department in Chittenden County. This includes departments with two to three times the number of officers. Our Officers continue to work towards meeting your expectations and delivering the highest level of service. At the time of this report we are being asked to give up an Officer position as part of the proposed budget cuts by the Town Selectboard. If this is passed we will at that point end up reducing or eliminating some of our services that we offer free of charge to the residents of Williston. Those services include but are not limited to VIN number verifications, fingerprinting for our schools, vacant house checks, vehicle unlocks, school patrols in the morning, and possibly our Neighborhood Patrol Program. On a more positive note the Police Department was awarded $33,000.00 from the Federal government as part of the stimulus money that was awarded through the Edward Byrne Memorial JAG Grant. This money allowed us to purchase new computers for our department, and replace much needed equipment. The reason for this high award was due to the number of serious crimes reported in Williston. Our Department assigned one of our Officers to work with the Drug Enforcement Agency to investigate drug cases in our area for several weeks this year. This has lead to numerous arrests and asset seizures for our department, and at the same time making our state that much safer. We are pleased to have our Department have the ability to be part of such an important branch of law enforcement and to have been involved in significantly affecting the illegal drug business in Chittenden County. So far this year our Department has had 461 arrests in 82 categories. It is clear that Williston is a safer community because of the dedication and perseverance of your Officers. In closing I would like to thank the residents of the Town of Williston for allowing me the opportunity to serve as Acting Chief for the last year and a half. During that time I have enjoyed many positive interactions with community members. In the coming year we will be hiring a new Chief of Police to take on this very demanding but fulfilling position. I am proud to say that I was able to serve this fine and dedicated group of men and women. |