Communities need to publicly celebrate successes. In this regard, Bennington has been rich in celebration – for everything from new businesses to more young people moving to the area.
So, too, must we publicly own and acknowledge our challenges, take a careful inventory of the situation, and map out a plan to solve the problem. That is the reality now facing Bennington and Southern Vermont as gang violence and related crime continue to grow in our area.
Town Manager Stuart Hurd deserves credit for recognizing the value of public transparency on this tough issue and stepping forward to say the difficult and unwelcome thing: “We’re seeing more violence, especially with these folks right now. That’s not a good sign. We are aware, and we are doing our best to identify these individuals and try and put a stop to the activity they are bringing here.”
That statement came after the Bennington Banner had reached out to numerous judicial, law enforcement and others with knowledge of the situation, and heard back silence.
Only after Hurd acknowledged the problem did others step forward with information on gang activity.
Here’s why that matters. Anytime there is a lack of facts on a scary issue like violence in a close-knit community, rumors begin to fill that void. And that always ends badly.
To be clear, there is still much we do not know or even expect law enforcement to fully know about the gang situation in southern Vermont. We don’t know its reach in our state, or how long these gangs have been operating in our region, for example. And we realize that pieces of the investigation cannot immediately be made public.
We also don’t want to over-react; Bennington County has not become a mecca of Latin King ‘tags’ or daily and routine violence. Southern Vermont remains a safe place to live, work and play, so safe that urbanites seek out our towns and cities to escape big-city violence.
What we do know is that the Banner began noticing an increase in criminal hearings and police raids that involved guns, serious illegal drugs and high levels of violence, and appeared to involve alleged Latin King members. That prompted the newspaper to begin asking questions, and the responding silence was chilling. We also know that the drugs gang members are here to sell — especially heroin laced with fentanyl — are ending too many lives, harming too many families and exacting a human cost in our community.
Bennington Police Chief Paul Doucette told the Banner that his office is working with state and federal counterparts to “push back” against the gang activity with interdepartmental strength, and intelligence gathering and sharing efforts. That work involves the Southern Vermont Task Force and the Vermont State Police, as well as the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S Attorney’s Office in Vermont to try to move some of the gang cases to the federal level, to take advantage of the greater penalties.
On Friday morning, Bennington County State’s Attorney Erica Marthage also responded, saying that she is involved in the interagency effort, adding “I’ve been very aggressive with the cases that have come into my office.”
Hurd probably has some apologizing to do to the Select Board for not keeping them posted on the situation. He plans to brief the board at Monday’s meeting.
Still, publicly acknowledging a problem is the first move toward solving that problem.
Going forward we urge law enforcement, the U.S. and State’s Attorneys’ offices, and others involved in this investigation to be as candid as possible.
It’s harder for a problem in the spotlight to grow.