BRATTLEBORO — The town government will hire two unarmed private security guards this summer in a test project to help its understaffed police department.
The selectboard voted unanimously Tuesday night to hire one uniformed employee from the international company Securitas to patrol downtown’s Transportation Center, which has sparked headlines over the past year for drug dealing, vehicle vandalism and, most notably last month, an armed robbery in which a man with a knife stole a woman’s car.
“We have seen an increase in people congregating at the garage, which has resulted in an uptick of some criminal activity,” Police Chief Norma Hardy wrote in a letter to the board. “Hiring unarmed private security will not only help with our ability to stay informed as to what is transpiring at the garage but will also give the public a feeling of safety.”
Leaders will also hire a plainclothes staffer from Hill Street Security of nearby Keene, New Hampshire, to rotate around the town’s Municipal Center, Gibson-Aiken recreation building and Brooks Memorial Library — the latter which recently faced a break-in at a time when local burglaries have nearly doubled.
“Their uniform, a polo shirt and pants, presents a softer image,” Hardy wrote of Hill Street Security. “It is our hope that staffing these positions at this time is another step towards enticing the public to enjoy our downtown area.”
The Brattleboro Police Department is budgeted for 27 officers but currently employs only 17 — just two-thirds its full complement — because of a nationwide staffing shortage.
“While we are confident that we will be able to fill the ranks,” Hardy wrote the board, “this takes time.”
Police, who are receiving as many as 900 calls a month, say they’re working to hire at least five new officers in the next year. In the meantime, they’re prioritizing crimes against people over those against property.
Representatives of businesses and organizations have asked the board repeatedly to broaden municipal security measures.
“It is appalling to me that the only reason that you are reacting to the cries from the public for over a year is because somebody pulled a knife on somebody,” resident Dick DeGray told the board Tuesday.
DeGray, a former board member who cares for Main Street’s flower planters, has sought help at meetings 11 times since making his first request on May 3, 2022, minutes and recordings show.
“It should have happened a long, long time ago,” DeGray said Tuesday, “and maybe the lady wouldn’t have been threatened with her life to get her car.”
The guard at the Transportation Center will work daily in the afternoon and evening for $39 an hour or $2,184 a week, officials said, while the staffer monitoring the three other municipal buildings will patrol at similar times for $35 an hour or $1,960 a week. No starting dates were announced.
Local leaders will review the results in eight to 10 weeks before deciding whether and how to continue.
“We want to try it out,” Town Manager John Potter told the board. “Let’s start to draw a line.”
Some residents at Tuesday’s board meeting questioned why local leaders weren’t tapping more non-police recommendations from a 2020 community safety review. Others wondered if the guards would simply push the problem to other parts of town.
But the board ultimately approved the test hiring on a 5-0 vote.
“This is a thing that has been talked about over and over again for years and years,” said recently elected board member Peter “Fish” Case. “I think it’s long overdue.”