By Patrick Adrian
Staff Writer
WINDSOR, Vt. — For newly hired Windsor Police Chief Jennifer Frank, the present is a pivotal time in her career.
Speaking to the Windsor Selectboard on Tuesday, Frank said she is excited to be back in Windsor, where she had previously worked for three years as a police officer, and at a time when the culture of America’s policing appears poised to institute long-needed reform.
“We are in a moment that will forever be remembered in history,” Frank told the selectboard. “This is an opportunity for a cultural change and to reexamine what we’ve been doing. And I am so excited to be a part of that.”
Frank, who took over the Windsor department less than a month ago, described herself as a dedicated advocate of the “community policing” philosophy, an approach centered upon building positive relationships between local police officers and the community they serve. This approach could include police-sponsored socials like “Coffee with a Cop,” educational visits in schools or department policies or training programs to strengthen implementation of crisis intervention.
Frank also emphasized the importance of simply treating citizens with respect, no matter who they are.
“People need to understand in a small community like ours that yesterday’s suspect can be today’s victim and tomorrow’s witness,” Frank said. “The person you interact with may be less than pleasant to you today, but if you don’t treat them with respect they deserve, purely for being a human being, then tomorrow if they are a victim they aren’t going to reach out to you.”
Frank, who left the teaching profession to become a police officer transferred those skills in communication and relationship-building to her new career almost immediately. Frank spent her first 10 years in Plymouth specializing in cases involving sexual assault, domestic violence or child pornography. Around 2006, Frank participated in a pilot program studying the role of mental health in criminal behaviors and ways to address those situations.
“It’s important for us to realize that just because someone made a poor decision it may not be that was the intent to begin with,” Frank said. “It might just be that they were in a bad spot at the time or that there were other things going on.”
People should still be held accountable, according to Frank, but the effective way to render justice can vary depending on the person or situation.
The ideal approach to any police-related conflict is to try to find the “win-win” for all parties where that opportunity exists and finding solutions collaboratively to create a better environment, according to Frank.
Frank said she expects the Windsor Police Department to incorporate the use of body and cruiser cameras in the near future though she could not give the board a timetable when that will happen. Frank has already submitted an application for a 50-50 matching grant that would go toward the purchase of peripherals if approved. However, the transition to cameras also requires having department policies and training officers to make the program effective. Additionally the state government is currently drafting statewide policies regarding the usage of cameras in police departments, which must be completed prior to Windsor adopting policies at the local level.
Frank left her role as the chief of police in Norwich, Vermont, a position she served for two years, to accept the role of chief in Windsor.
“This is a community that I am excited and passionate about,” Frank said. “This is a community that when I left it nearly broke my heart. I left for a tremendous opportunity to take a chief of police position but to come back here to lead the Windsor Police Department, with some of the most professional and well trained officers, this is just an amazing opportunity.”
Frank replaced former Windsor Police Chief Bill Sampson, who served as chief from 2014 until February. Sampson announced his resignation after accepting a position in Massachusetts, his native state.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.