NEAL P. GOSWAMI
benningtonbanner.com
Col. Thomas L’Esperance, the commander of the Vermont State Police, speaks about the...
BENNINGTON -- Local and state police are working with a veteran lawmaker to create a statewide gang task force and amend state laws to counter a growing illicit drug trade they say is driven by gangs and organized crime.
Bennington County Sen. Dick Sears, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been meeting quietly behind the scenes for months with police to strategize on how to stave off drug use and its associated crimes. A dedicated task force, continued cooperation with federal law enforcement agencies and changing the state's conspiracy laws will help, Sears said.
Col. Thomas J. L'Esperance, director of the Vermont State Police, is fully on board. He said there is no denying that gangs and other organized groups are moving drugs from out-of-state into Vermont and driving ancillary crimes like burglary that support drug habits. Low-level gang associates are turning up as dealers in each corner of the state, he said.
"There's a level of gang activity, gang influence, over a lot of the drugs that are being distributed across the state. It's more organized than it has been in the past," L'Esperance said. "What we're finding in pockets across the state, the drugs that we're buying, there's a network in place."
Police, government officials and the community must accept the changing reality and face it head-on, according to L'Esperance. Vermont has a growing drug problem that is driven by organized crime in New York and Massachusetts, but they are simply feeding a demand, he said.
"We have to, as a state, stop saying that it's out-of-state drug dealers coming up to Vermont to deal. The appetite is here. The reason people come up to deal is because the appetite is here. We have to start looking at ourselves and say we have the problem," L'Esperance said. "The conversations that are happening now, and have been happening, particularly in the senator's committee, are moving that conversation forward. We have to continue talking in those terms. It's easy, it makes us feel good to say it's out-of-state dealers coming up. Well, it's us. They're living in Vermont. They're dealing in Vermont. We're buying in Vermont."
Low-level dealers are being tied to traditional street gangs like the Bloods and the Crips through their tattoos and from interviews with police. Bennington Police Chief Paul Doucette, who along with L'Esperance has been meeting with Sears on the issue, said his officers are also dealing with motorcycle clubs, particularly the Hells Angels.
"We are in a situation now where we have people that are providing us with information, that are telling us things that are going on. For example, with our motorcycle gang activity going on here, they're advertising their events. We know that they're here. They advertise it, they look for the community support. They come into the area, people think, ‘OK, these guys are OK; we're having family events.' But in reality, they're not seeing what goes on before the event, what goes on after the event and what's going on for the rest of the year," Doucette said.
While there is no local chapter of the motorcycle club, Doucette said local residents belong to chapters in nearby areas. One member of a Massachusetts chapter that has spent significant time in the area is currently locked up in Massachusetts facing three murder charges. Prosecutors allege the Hells Angels member killed three men to keep them from testifying.
"Just to be specific, when we talk about the Hells Angels, for example, we don't have a chapter established here in Bennington. We have people in Bennington that are members of the Hells Angels in another state, in Massachusetts, for example. They're up here conducting their business. You know, people can laugh, but we've seen this in other areas where people are oblivious to what's actually taking place. They just go about their lives, they have no idea what's going on, and then all the sudden, bang, it hits. That's what we're trying to combat here. We're trying to prevent it," he said.
"We have seen it where a rival motorcycle gang has come into several local establishments that are open late, specifically bars, and there has been some confrontations. We've had to go there, we've had to respond and we've had to remove them. These are things that we didn't see 10 years ago or 15 years ago."
Motorcycle clubs
State police are keeping a close eye on the motorcycle clubs in the Bennington Area, L'Esperance said. The influence of motorcycle clubs has yet to spread to other parts of the state, but it could, he said. "The outlaw motorcycle club influence has not taken off in the rest of the state to the degree that it has here in Bennington. Bennington certainly has the most Hells Angels influence across Vermont.
"Although, there are influences out there with other smaller clubs that are support clubs of the Hells Angels that we're seeing are either being patched into the club or in the process of that," L'Esperance said. "So, we're watching that as closely as we can and working with the local agencies across the state, to include the federal government. We certainly monitor as best as we can and try to initiate investigations when we can and work hand-in-hand, specifically in Bennington, with the Bennington Police in particular, because that's where the influence is."
Another alleged member of the Hells Angels recently had his property set on fire in the Bennington area, L'Esperance said. So far, violence has been contained to members, he said. "That's just the members. The influence outside of that, the intimidation, and things like that, the community may start to see," he said.
The situation is serious, and should be tackled, Sears said. Legislation he is working on with legislative lawyers will create a statewide gang task force, provide funding through the Community Drug Interdiction Program, strengthen the state's conspiracy laws and allow law enforcement access to a prescription drug database. "Most people don't believe it," Sears said of the problem. "I didn't quite believe it either. I thought they were just trying to exaggerate, but the more I heard about it the more I got worried."
Police are strongly in favor of a gang task force. L'Esperance said the existing drug task force focuses on mid- and upper-level dealers. A gang task force would focus its efforts on street-level activity, he said. Officers on the drug task force are usually under cover for lengthy periods of time. That may not be the case with those on the gang task force.
"The drug task force runs under the radar. The gang task force may not run under the radar," L'Esperance said. Vermont may already be falling behind on tackling gangs and organized crime. States across the country have already begun to move forward with similar plans, according to L'Esperance.
"Vermont has a history of staying ahead of social issues, clearly. In some of the crime issues we kind of lag behind," he said. "Most states, all of the New England states that I'm aware of, have a gang task force to one degree or another."
"We're operating behind the eight ball in terms of some of the activity but we're not that far behind," he added. "I think that collectively, the police agencies across Vermont, if we put something together with a gang task force mission, we can work with the communities and put something together that I think will he helpful to the state."
Additionally, police believe the state's conspiracy laws are too soft to tie street-level dealers to the brains behind the organized operations police are seeing. Low-level dealers rotate in and out of jail, but leaders remain in place. Strengthening the state's conspiracy laws "would break down some barriers from an investigative approach," L'Esperance said.
"It's a tool in law enforcement that we use really only through the federal government right now. There are pretty good conspiracy laws that the U.S. attorney's office works with us on. If we can drill those down to the state level we can probably effect investigations on a local level at a higher rate than we can right now," he said.
"To get to that higher-level person, we hit so many road blocks and barriers along the way. The street-level and those people that choose to deal, we can get to them."
"We need a bigger hammer"
Local and state police do have the ability to bring cases to the U.S. attorney's office and partner on cases, gaining access to federal conspiracy laws. That means investigators can apply pressure to low-level offenders to roll over on the people directing them. The cases local and state police bring forward are not always big enough to draw the interest of federal agents and prosecutors, though.
"They don't take every case. A lot of cases may not rise to that level," L'Esperance said. "But, it's a big enough deal to the people living on Main Street in Bennington or Rutland that these types of investigations of people that are causing quality of life issues need to be dealt with. We need a bigger hammer at the state level so that we don't have to rely on the federal government."
Sears said the head of the New Jersey Crime Commission will speak to lawmakers on Wednesday on the steps that state has taken. Some of what is developing in Vermont has already occurred in New Jersey and other states.
The legislation will also include new ways to address drug addiction and treatment. Sears said solving a growing drug and gang problem in the state must allow new tools for police. It must also include ways to help people addicted to drugs to reduce the demand.
The culture within the policing community has changed, according to L'Esperance. As director of the state police force, he is backing Sears' efforts to introduce new treatment methods, including mobile methadone clinics that have seen vehement opposition in Bennington in the past.
"I don't think you can have a conversation about prescription drug abuse without talking about treatment. It has to be a component of everything that we do," L'Esperance said. "Treatment and education are vital, otherwise we deal with the same people over and over again. I don't think anybody wakes up and says, ‘Today I'm going to be a heroin addict.' You graduate to that level. At some point in their life they're going to hit rock bottom. It may be through the police, it may be through just circumstances in general, yet it has to happen. And when it happens there has to be facilities and people in place to allow them to get their life back on track, otherwise, we're never going to put a dent in this thing. So, I'll back, 100 percent, any treatment options, any treatment facilities, with a straight face and look you in the eye. It has to be a component of what we do. There has to be some type of relationship that's already developed with people in that arena that we work with."
L'Esperance and Sears said Vermont remains an ideal place to live and work. In fact, it remains one of the safest places in the country to reside. Sears' pending legislation is a way to prevent the situation from growing out-of-control, he said.
"We're the second-safest state in the nation. It's a beautiful place to raise a family. I wouldn't want to go anywhere else to raise a family. But, times have certainly changed and crimes have certainly changed. Just the quality of life crimes have really increased," he said. "We're not getting overrun with gangs. I think we should be clear with that. But, it's here. The activity is here." Sears said he expects his legislation will receive broad support in the Legislature. Lawmakers and the community must take steps to keep the issue of drugs and organized crime from being able to fester, he said.
"My goal is to try to not have it get worse. To admit that we've got a problem," he said. "The first thing you have to do to solve a problem is admit that you've got a problem. I think for too long here we've been denying that we've got a problem. We, as community members, have been denying it."
Contact Neal P. Goswami at ngoswami@benningtonbanner.com. Follow on Twitter: @nealgoswami
Bennington County Sen. Dick Sears, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been meeting quietly behind the scenes for months with police to strategize on how to stave off drug use and its associated crimes. A dedicated task force, continued cooperation with federal law enforcement agencies and changing the state's conspiracy laws will help, Sears said.
Col. Thomas J. L'Esperance, director of the Vermont State Police, is fully on board. He said there is no denying that gangs and other organized groups are moving drugs from out-of-state into Vermont and driving ancillary crimes like burglary that support drug habits. Low-level gang associates are turning up as dealers in each corner of the state, he said.
"There's a level of gang activity, gang influence, over a lot of the drugs that are being distributed across the state. It's more organized than it has been in the past," L'Esperance said. "What we're finding in pockets across the state, the drugs that we're buying, there's a network in place."
Police, government officials and the community must accept the changing reality and face it head-on, according to L'Esperance. Vermont has a growing drug problem that is driven by organized crime in New York and Massachusetts, but they are simply feeding a demand, he said.
"We have to, as a state, stop saying that it's out-of-state drug dealers coming up to Vermont to deal. The appetite is here. The reason people come up to deal is because the appetite is here. We have to start looking at ourselves and say we have the problem," L'Esperance said. "The conversations that are happening now, and have been happening, particularly in the senator's committee, are moving that conversation forward. We have to continue talking in those terms. It's easy, it makes us feel good to say it's out-of-state dealers coming up. Well, it's us. They're living in Vermont. They're dealing in Vermont. We're buying in Vermont."
Low-level dealers are being tied to traditional street gangs like the Bloods and the Crips through their tattoos and from interviews with police. Bennington Police Chief Paul Doucette, who along with L'Esperance has been meeting with Sears on the issue, said his officers are also dealing with motorcycle clubs, particularly the Hells Angels.
"We are in a situation now where we have people that are providing us with information, that are telling us things that are going on. For example, with our motorcycle gang activity going on here, they're advertising their events. We know that they're here. They advertise it, they look for the community support. They come into the area, people think, ‘OK, these guys are OK; we're having family events.' But in reality, they're not seeing what goes on before the event, what goes on after the event and what's going on for the rest of the year," Doucette said.
While there is no local chapter of the motorcycle club, Doucette said local residents belong to chapters in nearby areas. One member of a Massachusetts chapter that has spent significant time in the area is currently locked up in Massachusetts facing three murder charges. Prosecutors allege the Hells Angels member killed three men to keep them from testifying.
"Just to be specific, when we talk about the Hells Angels, for example, we don't have a chapter established here in Bennington. We have people in Bennington that are members of the Hells Angels in another state, in Massachusetts, for example. They're up here conducting their business. You know, people can laugh, but we've seen this in other areas where people are oblivious to what's actually taking place. They just go about their lives, they have no idea what's going on, and then all the sudden, bang, it hits. That's what we're trying to combat here. We're trying to prevent it," he said.
"We have seen it where a rival motorcycle gang has come into several local establishments that are open late, specifically bars, and there has been some confrontations. We've had to go there, we've had to respond and we've had to remove them. These are things that we didn't see 10 years ago or 15 years ago."
Motorcycle clubs
State police are keeping a close eye on the motorcycle clubs in the Bennington Area, L'Esperance said. The influence of motorcycle clubs has yet to spread to other parts of the state, but it could, he said. "The outlaw motorcycle club influence has not taken off in the rest of the state to the degree that it has here in Bennington. Bennington certainly has the most Hells Angels influence across Vermont.
"Although, there are influences out there with other smaller clubs that are support clubs of the Hells Angels that we're seeing are either being patched into the club or in the process of that," L'Esperance said. "So, we're watching that as closely as we can and working with the local agencies across the state, to include the federal government. We certainly monitor as best as we can and try to initiate investigations when we can and work hand-in-hand, specifically in Bennington, with the Bennington Police in particular, because that's where the influence is."
Another alleged member of the Hells Angels recently had his property set on fire in the Bennington area, L'Esperance said. So far, violence has been contained to members, he said. "That's just the members. The influence outside of that, the intimidation, and things like that, the community may start to see," he said.
The situation is serious, and should be tackled, Sears said. Legislation he is working on with legislative lawyers will create a statewide gang task force, provide funding through the Community Drug Interdiction Program, strengthen the state's conspiracy laws and allow law enforcement access to a prescription drug database. "Most people don't believe it," Sears said of the problem. "I didn't quite believe it either. I thought they were just trying to exaggerate, but the more I heard about it the more I got worried."
Police are strongly in favor of a gang task force. L'Esperance said the existing drug task force focuses on mid- and upper-level dealers. A gang task force would focus its efforts on street-level activity, he said. Officers on the drug task force are usually under cover for lengthy periods of time. That may not be the case with those on the gang task force.
"The drug task force runs under the radar. The gang task force may not run under the radar," L'Esperance said. Vermont may already be falling behind on tackling gangs and organized crime. States across the country have already begun to move forward with similar plans, according to L'Esperance.
"Vermont has a history of staying ahead of social issues, clearly. In some of the crime issues we kind of lag behind," he said. "Most states, all of the New England states that I'm aware of, have a gang task force to one degree or another."
"We're operating behind the eight ball in terms of some of the activity but we're not that far behind," he added. "I think that collectively, the police agencies across Vermont, if we put something together with a gang task force mission, we can work with the communities and put something together that I think will he helpful to the state."
Additionally, police believe the state's conspiracy laws are too soft to tie street-level dealers to the brains behind the organized operations police are seeing. Low-level dealers rotate in and out of jail, but leaders remain in place. Strengthening the state's conspiracy laws "would break down some barriers from an investigative approach," L'Esperance said.
"It's a tool in law enforcement that we use really only through the federal government right now. There are pretty good conspiracy laws that the U.S. attorney's office works with us on. If we can drill those down to the state level we can probably effect investigations on a local level at a higher rate than we can right now," he said.
"To get to that higher-level person, we hit so many road blocks and barriers along the way. The street-level and those people that choose to deal, we can get to them."
"We need a bigger hammer"
Local and state police do have the ability to bring cases to the U.S. attorney's office and partner on cases, gaining access to federal conspiracy laws. That means investigators can apply pressure to low-level offenders to roll over on the people directing them. The cases local and state police bring forward are not always big enough to draw the interest of federal agents and prosecutors, though.
"They don't take every case. A lot of cases may not rise to that level," L'Esperance said. "But, it's a big enough deal to the people living on Main Street in Bennington or Rutland that these types of investigations of people that are causing quality of life issues need to be dealt with. We need a bigger hammer at the state level so that we don't have to rely on the federal government."
Sears said the head of the New Jersey Crime Commission will speak to lawmakers on Wednesday on the steps that state has taken. Some of what is developing in Vermont has already occurred in New Jersey and other states.
The legislation will also include new ways to address drug addiction and treatment. Sears said solving a growing drug and gang problem in the state must allow new tools for police. It must also include ways to help people addicted to drugs to reduce the demand.
The culture within the policing community has changed, according to L'Esperance. As director of the state police force, he is backing Sears' efforts to introduce new treatment methods, including mobile methadone clinics that have seen vehement opposition in Bennington in the past.
"I don't think you can have a conversation about prescription drug abuse without talking about treatment. It has to be a component of everything that we do," L'Esperance said. "Treatment and education are vital, otherwise we deal with the same people over and over again. I don't think anybody wakes up and says, ‘Today I'm going to be a heroin addict.' You graduate to that level. At some point in their life they're going to hit rock bottom. It may be through the police, it may be through just circumstances in general, yet it has to happen. And when it happens there has to be facilities and people in place to allow them to get their life back on track, otherwise, we're never going to put a dent in this thing. So, I'll back, 100 percent, any treatment options, any treatment facilities, with a straight face and look you in the eye. It has to be a component of what we do. There has to be some type of relationship that's already developed with people in that arena that we work with."
L'Esperance and Sears said Vermont remains an ideal place to live and work. In fact, it remains one of the safest places in the country to reside. Sears' pending legislation is a way to prevent the situation from growing out-of-control, he said.
"We're the second-safest state in the nation. It's a beautiful place to raise a family. I wouldn't want to go anywhere else to raise a family. But, times have certainly changed and crimes have certainly changed. Just the quality of life crimes have really increased," he said. "We're not getting overrun with gangs. I think we should be clear with that. But, it's here. The activity is here." Sears said he expects his legislation will receive broad support in the Legislature. Lawmakers and the community must take steps to keep the issue of drugs and organized crime from being able to fester, he said.
"My goal is to try to not have it get worse. To admit that we've got a problem," he said. "The first thing you have to do to solve a problem is admit that you've got a problem. I think for too long here we've been denying that we've got a problem. We, as community members, have been denying it."
Contact Neal P. Goswami at ngoswami@benningtonbanner.com. Follow on Twitter: @nealgoswami
