BELLOWS FALLS — Entering his third year leading the Bellows Falls police, Chief Ron Lake was enthusiastic in his assessment of how the department is doing.
He listed animal control, increased speed enforcement on Route 103, past and upcoming “blue light” contracts for road construction projects along Interstate 91, continued drug sweeps, and being appointed Truant Officer by the WNESU board (with Officer Scott Symonds assisting), as accomplishments for 2010.
Lake said the Village has also added three speed warning signs funded by a donation from a community member which are located at Rockingham and Westminster streets, as well as at the top of Old Terrace on Route 121.
“They serve as warning devices,” Lake said. “We don't write tickets and hope it educates the public.”
While Lake admits he continues to struggle with budget concerns - “I always wish I had more money,” he said - he's optimistic that he is creating revenue and doing everything in his power for community policing in the Village.
Lake said the drug initiative he instituted last year continues.
“We don't just focus on the Village,” he said. “We cooperate with law enforcement beyond these borders throughout the state and in other states, too.”
He said one recent bust, in which a significant amount of cocaine was seized, was a result of just such cooperation with state drug enforcement agencies.
He said his biggest asset is someone he has known since childhood, and who now calls Bellows Falls home.
“Shane Harris is one of our biggest assets [to the drug unit]. When I heard he was retiring here, I just had to ask him if he would work with us. I feel very fortunate to have him,” Lake said.
But Lake stressed that “drugs are a big problem here,” noting that for “as long as I am here, I suspect I will be dealing with this issue.”
Lake said sweeps have resulted in confiscation of prescription drugs, cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana in the Village. He said the dealers do not fall into one category of offender.
“They are young and old; some are mothers and fathers, some younger in their 20s. Not all are users as dipping into the product, for personal use cuts into profits,” he explained. He agreed that if there were not a demand, there would be no sales.
“We try to get [addicts] the help they need,” he said. “If someone were to walk into our lobby downstairs and say 'I need help [with my addiction],' we would immediately get them connected with Health Care Recovery Services [HCRS], and get them the help they need,” Lake said. “When we see someone under arrest who obviously needs help, we try to get it for them.”
But Lake notes that his efforts to curb drug sales in the Village “are only as strong as the weakest link.”
While Lake declined to be any more specific, state cutbacks have made jail time shorter following convictions, with offenders getting back on the street sooner.
“Our drug unit continues to investigate and arrest offenders diligently,” he said. “Of those we've arrested, we've had no repeat offenders [for the same crime].”
He said there is always someone to step in and fill the gap once a dealer has been arrested. Whether the motivation is economic or addiction, he cannot say.
“We're not arresting the same people,” he said.
Lake said the greater Rockingham area “would run with red ink if I were to pinpoint known drug activity on a map,” describing the situation to the Village Trustees at one meeting. “It's not just in the Village.”
On the bright side, Lake's assignment as the WNESU's truant officer comes following no truancy enforcement in “several years.”
Already, he said, he's narrowed the list down to a handful of truants. Lake's experience as a father having, at times, six kids at home with him over the years, has helped give him the perspective he needs to help truants see how important their education is.
“My father used to say, when we were having a hard time or didn't want to go to school, 'Do you want fries with that?'” Lake quips. “We got the point and went to school.”
Lake understands that truancy, by the time he hears about it, is not a simple desire not to go to school one day. “Obviously, there's a problem somewhere,” he said. “Getting courts involved is a very last resort. I prefer to do all I can to get the child back in school.” He said that so far, he has not had to involve courts in any of his truancy cases. “I'll get them all the help I can first,” he said.
He said he put a lot of time and money into getting Officer Scott Symonds trained as a Student Resource Officer before funding was cut for the position and he is now serving as Lake's assistant for truancy. “He works about 20 hours a week on truancy,” Lake said. “He's well qualified and does a great job.”
Lake said he requested the same budget increase of $68,000 from the Trustees that he asked for last year. He has yet to hear whether or not he will get it, having been turned down last year.
He mentioned his deep personal pleasure at the safe return of Officer Christopher Brooks from serving in Afghanistan for two years.
“We are very glad to see him back safely and look forward to having him serve with us again,” Lake said.