This commentary is by Ron Jacobs, who lives in Winooski and works in Burlington.
Recently, VTDigger has published a couple of articles about a supposed episode of rising violent crime in Vermont. These articles come across as nothing more than thinly veiled press releases for prosecutors and police departments who seem to think the answer to most every upsetting social issue is more police.
Citing a rise in gun incidents in the city of Burlington, the Burlington Police Department and its champions in Burlington’s City Hall are pushing to reverse the decision that reduced the number of full-time officers in the department. They are joined by a federal prosecutor in their call.
Of course, the actual number of gun incidents is minuscule when placed in the context of how many guns are actually in Burlington. Likewise, those actual numbers are just small, even though they have increased. This isn’t written to dismiss these incidents out of hand, but to place them in a non-hysterical context.
Of course, it is a bit discomforting to hear that violent crime is going up slightly. It is also discomforting to consider how long the world has been in a state of uncertainty and stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated economic situation. This becomes even more stressful as we watch the infection and death rates from the virus increase once again.
Unfortunately, for a few residents of Vermont, the stress and uncertainty stemming from the virus and its effects has turned them toward a lifestyle associated with the use of firearms. Obviously, I’m not talking about hunting but about criminal activity. This is unusual for Vermont.
Certain observers have noted that police do not prevent crime; they react to it. It is further noted that crime can usually be prevented by taking care of people. In other words, providing people with shelter, food to eat, education and health care, no matter their income, skin color or gender. Police are not equipped to provide any of these things, even if they wanted to. Although their presence on a street or at an event might temper the behavior of those present, their job most often involves showing up and taking notes and names when a crime is committed in the hope they can catch the perpetrator.
I am not discounting the role police play, merely clarifying it. Adding more police to the various police agencies in Vermont will not solve the economic and social problems underlying much criminal activity. Hiring and training non-police community resource workers will not either. Both types of jobs deal only with the symptoms of the problem.
Their roles, while important, must be underlined by a serious effort to incorporate those who have little or no connection to the greater society and choose (intentionally or otherwise) a life of crime. Such an effort would involve education, training, shelter and more. Naturally, this would cost money, but not any more than filling the streets with more police and building more prisons would.
Furthermore, it would reap long-term benefits on an individual and societal level, something never achieved in the past by expanding the power or personnel of agencies like the police and the prisons.
