Pubdate: Thu, 03 Jun 2004
Source: Brattleboro Reformer (VT)
Copyright: 2004 Brattleboro Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.reformer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/59
Author: Daniel Barlow, Reformer Staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

ANTI-DRUG STRATEGY OUTLINED

BRATTLEBORO -- The creation of a drug court and the hiring of a coordinator 
to pull together area substance abuse services will be among the 
recommendations a town committee studying the drug problem will make to the 
selectboard this month.

The recommendations made public Wednesday night by the Brattleboro 
Substance Abuse Action Team also include updating and enforcing town 
ordinances and reaching out to the community and landlords.

These recommendations will be formally brought before the Brattleboro 
Selectboard at its June 15 meeting.

The drug committee, whose members include two selectboard members and 
Police Chief John Martin, formed in late 2002 in response to a series of 
complaints by groups of citizens over the growing drug problem in town.

In 2003, there were 82 drug-related deaths in Vermont, outpacing for the 
first time traffic-related deaths. In Brattleboro, residents complained of 
being too afraid to walk down their street even in the daytime and told 
stories of intimidating drug dealers who threatened violence if they went 
to the police.

At the drug committee's Wednesday meeting, much of the discussion focused 
on establishing a drug court in Brattleboro.

Members stated they were not recommending implementation of a drug court in 
Brattleboro, but suggesting that it requires a closer look.

Kathryn Hayes, a family court judge in Brattleboro, said five other 
communities in Vermont, including Bennington and Rutland, have or are in 
the process of establishing drug courts.

Drug courts focus more on treatment and rehabilitation, with jail sentences 
hanging in the background as an incentive, rather than immediate 
incarceration as punishment, Hayes said.

"It's an attractive model," she said. "It seems more useful that 
warehousing people."

People on probation or parole often have to check in with law enforcement 
officials, she said, but in a drug court setting the contact with staff and 
the regularity of drug testing is increased and often more effective.

She mentioned that last month, Commissioner of Public Safety Kerry Sleeper 
recommended the use of education, treatment, drug courts and methadone 
clinics to combat the drug problem.

There are numerous formats for drug courts, she added, and some set up a 
court separate from the local courts, while others work within the system 
and require little or no additional costs.

Such courts may require an initial investment -- although there is federal 
money available in the form of grants -- but the cost savings in the future 
are realized because the courts don't see the same offenders come through 
again and again, Hayes explained.

Drug courts typically have a failure rate of approximately 18 percent, she 
said, compared to the traditional court system of between 40 and 60 
percent. Over a 30-month period, the drug court can result in a $5,000 
savings per drug court participant, according to a recent study.

"When someone gets to a criminal court, we usually see them at the end of 
their tether and our function is to be the bottom they are hitting," said 
Hayes. "With a drug court, we become a trampoline."

The town of Brattleboro would have no authority to organize a drug court, 
said Hayes, although a show of support from the selectboard to the state 
would go a long way to its establishment. First, she said, the state's 
attorney and public defender need to be brought in on the plan.

The recommendations also suggest the appointment or hiring of a coordinator 
to work with the 22 agencies addressing drug-related problems. Many groups 
are working on prevention, intervention, treatment and enforcement, but 
there is no coordination of these activities at the town level, said drug 
committee Chairman Michael Szostak.

"Without someone working with all these groups and communicating to the 
town, we don't have the slightest chance of addressing the drug problem," 
he said.

Other recommendations include holding town-sponsored forums in various 
neighborhoods to gather information and hear residents' concerns; 
establishing an anonymous tip line to report drug-related activity; and 
review, update and enforce town ordinances such as nuisance abatement and 
curfews.

The landlords in town especially need support in the fight to get suspected 
drug-dealing tenants out of their buildings, said committee member Joseph 
Pieciak.

"Just look at the loss of rent ... sometimes it takes between $1,500 and 
2,000 just to get them out and somebody else in," Pieciak said. "And then 
they become someone else's problem."
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