Coffee with a cop in Manchester

By Cherise Madigan, The Berkshire Eagle
Original article HERE

With a larger than expected crowd and donuts from Mrs. Murphys in tow, officers from the Manchester Police Department offered an informal “Coffee with a Cop,” event at the Manchester Community Library on Tuesday.

The casual discussion was well attended despite heavy rain and provided an opportunity for citizens to ask questions or express concerns to those tasked with keeping our community safe.

“We’re not here with a speech, or to stand on our soap boxes, or talk politics or anything like that,” said Officer Chris Mason. “We’re just here to have a good time.”

Along with Mason, the discussion included Officer Jason Thomas, Detective Abigail Zimmer, Sergeant James Blanchard, and Officer Ryan Matteson. Also in the audience was Bennington County State’s Attorney Erica Marthage.

In this tumultuous political era, when debates on police brutality often take center stage, this event offered a unique opportunity for the community to connect with their police officers and understand the work that they do.

“We see what goes on in the news as well, and even for us it’s depressing to see,” said Mason. “Unfortunately in every profession there’s always bad apples, and we do our best to weed those out I think, but things do happen within the law enforcement community that even other law enforcement officers aren’t necessarily proud of.”

“We as Vermonters, living in a small community, we kind of watch out for everybody which is a very good feeling to have,” said Matteson.

Questions ranged from new electronic speed signs in town to more logistical questions about the territory covered by the MPD, and increased patrols for the upcoming graduation weekend. The most heavily discussed topic however, and also the most impassioned, was the opioid crisis.

“As a whole, and I think I speak not only for Manchester but the rest of the state, the drug problem is the biggest issue we’re facing right now,” said Mason. “Manchester in itself has a drug problem, just like every town throughout the state.”

Though the issue is at the forefront of the MPD’s docket, there is no easy fix for such a complex and far-reaching epidemic.

“One of the most common things we deal with is drugs in the community and it’s such a broad spectrum, because drug use affects not only the immediate family but it is the root of most of the property crimes that we deal with,” said Blanchard. “One way or another, we can tie most things back to drug use.”

“It’s an expensive habit, and they have to feed their habit, so they’re going to do it in any way they can,” said Zimmer. Though many discussions on the issue blame out of state traffickers for the drug market that has evolved in Manchester, many Vermonters are also implicit in the crisis.

“The idea that all of the drugs are coming into our state from people that live outside of our state just is not true,” said Marthage. “I just talked to one of the task force supervisors and 80 percent of the drugs that are being sold in our communities are being sold by Vermonters.”

One point raised by multiple community members was the need for increased rehabilitation services for those addicted to drugs.

“It’s very difficult to get help for addiction,” said Zimmer. “There’s not enough places to go, and at the places that exist there are waiting lists.”

Though the discussion was a stand-alone event, both library staff and the MPD expressed interest in continuing the conversation.