SENATE PANEL MEETS IN CITY

Leahy, Specter Praise Local Involvement

The two most prominent members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
picked up tips Monday for dealing with drugs and violence on a
national level from examples being set in Rutland and Vermont.

Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., convened a rare
meeting of the powerful committee outside Washington on Monday.

Gathered before an audience of roughly 200 people who stood when the
seating ran out inside the Franklin Center, the senators and seven
witnesses tried to get at the heart of a national problem by looking
at what has been taking place in Rutland and other communities in
Vermont.

"The myth is still alive that drug abuse and drug-related crime are
only big-city problems," Leahy, who is the chairman of the committee,
said at the start of the meeting. "We need a fresh look at drug crime
through the lens of the experience of smaller cities and rural
communities and bringing the Senate Judiciary Committee here will
give Congress a perspective that will help shape better solutions."

In Rutland, the mixture of drugs, violent crime and an organized
community response can all be found.

From November to February, there were three shootings in the city
that police said were drug-related, the last of which ended with the
death of a New York man in a shooting on Grove Street.

During the hour-and-a-half meeting, the committee heard from seven
speakers, including Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt.; Rutland Mayor
Christopher Louras; Tom Tremblay, Vermont Commissioner of Public
Safety; Hal Colston, the director of NeighborKeepers, an organization
that helps families in need in Essex Junction; and Bert Klavens, a
drug and alcohol coordinator and outpatient counselor with Washington
County Youth Services.

Some of the similarities among the testimony presented struck a chord
with the senators.

Commenting on the high level of cooperation between law enforcement
and prevention agencies such as the city's school system, Leahy said
Rutland displayed an aptitude lacking elsewhere.

"A small community like Rutland has shown more innovation than many
places in the country," Leahy said after the hearing.

To Specter, who left the meeting about 20 minutes before it ended,
the sight of so many interested people in the audience and the
testimony the committee heard about the community's involvement in
dealing with the drug issues were most impressive.

"I think we found a community spirit that ought to be contagious," he
said during a five-minute recess. "This problem isn't going to be
solved in Washington; it's going to be solved in the
communities."

That said, both senators were critical of federal spending that
allocated billions of dollars to rebuilding and security in Iraq
while leaving communities at home to fend for themselves.

"We're being told we need the money for the Iraqi police forces.
Frankly, this senator feels we ought to worry a little bit more about
our own police forces in the United States first," Leahy said,
drawing applause.

The hearing opened with testimony from Welch, who told the committee
the situation in Rutland is hardly an anomaly in Vermont.

Referring to recent conversations he had with police in Barre,
Montpelier and members of the Vermont Drug Task Force, Welch said the
responses to his questions were the same.

"They all repeat a similar refrain -- drug dealing, violent crime and
property crime are on the rise in many of Vermont's
communities."

The most recent crime statistics for the state show a disturbing rise
in violent crime that jumped more than 12 percent during 2006, Welch
said.

"In a small place like Rutland the psychological impact of violent
crime tends to be greater than it is in a more urban setting. Our
towns are small enough here that we know our neighbors and we know
our towns. The ripples of impact from criminal behavior spread
quickly and deeply, tearing at the very fabric that holds our
communities together."

Later in the hearing, Tremblay said state law enforcement has seen a
marked increase in drug transactions and violent crimes involving
guns.

He also said an increasing amount of the drug traffic -- mostly
cocaine these days -- being brought into the state was arriving from
out-of-state sources trying to lay claim to the market in Vermont.

"Many of us in our communities throughout Vermont are seeing
out-of-state drug sources coming to Vermont to monopolize drug
traffic, to sell their wares and peddle their poison on our streets
at a much higher level than they can in some of the urban areas they
come from."

Asked by Leahy later in the meeting whether there was any evidence
that Vermont was becoming a haven for gangs from out of state,
Tremblay said he wouldn't put it that way.

"I would not say we're a haven, but we have busted guys with gang
ties who have come here to test the waters," he said. "We won't stand
for it, which is why we participate in gatherings like these that
bring together different agencies to address the issue."

Tremblay's answer was a relief to Leahy.

"I'm glad to hear that. I would hate to think that any gangs would
think they could find safe havens in Vermont," he said. "As a
Vermonter, I don't want to see my state tainted by these people."

While Tremblay and Bossi said police agencies in the state work
together, they said law enforcement has had less to work with because
of cuts in federal grants that support police salaries, overtime and
operational support.

In Rutland, Bossi said his 39-member department has made more than
375 drug-related arrests during the past five years, but is in need
of more financial support to supply the personnel and overtime needed
to keep pace with the expanding drug activity.

While powder cocaine might be the most frequently trafficked drug in
the state, Bossi said it was second fiddle to its more potent,
addictive and dangerous cousin in Rutland.

"Currently the drug that poses the greatest threat to Rutland City is
crack cocaine ... The availability of drugs in Vermont has not
changed much over the past years. What has changed is the violence
that has increased over the last few years."

While federal funding for local law enforcement was the primary money
item up for discussion, issues surrounding drug prevention and
treatment accounted for the majority of the senators' questions.

Specter quizzed Louras on local mentoring programs for young people
whom he said were among the most at-risk population for drug use and
crime in Philadelphia.

Louras said there is a mentoring program in Rutland that he described
as one of the only avenues into the lives of at-risk youth.

"It's a difficult problem whether you're in Rutland, Philadelphia or
Belmont to address what happens behind closed doors in the family,"
he said.

Superintendent of Rutland Schools Mary Moran said the schools are
also trying to reach young people in need before they turn to drugs
and crime.

In some of the worst cases school officials deal with, the children
are born with drug problems.

"Yes, we have crack babies in Vermont as well as children who suffer
from the results of fetal alcohol syndrome . Helping these children
and families as early as possible gives hope for their future
development and success in life."

For older students, the school operates programs that give teenagers
things to do during later afternoon hours, deemed to be the most
risky as far as potential drug use is concerned.

In one of the only hard lines of questions posed during the hearing,
Specter asked Moran when students are first warned about drugs. When
told that drugs weren't explicitly addressed until the fifth grade,
the senator asked Moran to consider educating students on the topic
sooner.

Moran said children in earlier grades are taught about making healthy
choices, trusting adults and the police and counseled about who to
turn to for help with problems.

Colston and Klavens each have experience at the other end of the
spectrum -- helping drug users kick their addictions.

"I have witnessed how drug abuse violently tears apart families As
long as demand for drugs is brisk, there will be drug dealers lined
up 10 deep to meet this demand. In my view, drug dealers are people
who have lost hope."

Klavens said the state and the federal government needed to find a
way to deal with the demand side of the drug equation that doesn't
include imprisoning people.