Leahy plans drug hearing for Barre later this month
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By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau - Published: March 12, 2010
BARRE – Sen. Patrick Leahy will convene a Senate hearing in Barre later this month to examine the drug issues facing the Granite City.
The March 22 meeting of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee marks the third time the Democratic senator has brought the committee he chairs to Vermont. Previous hearings in Rutland and St. Albans, Leahy said Thursday, have helped spotlight a narcotics problems that threatens rural Vermont.
"I watch this very carefully from my own experience as prosecutor in Vermont," said Leahy, who, prior to joining the Senate, served as state's attorney in Chittenden County.
"I've heard from the business community, from police, from educators and others who have concerns about crime in the Barre area. And I said why don't we just have a hearing and talk about it and see if we can come up with some solutions."
In December of 2006, Barre's drug problem hit the front pages when police rounded up dozens of mostly small-time cocaine and heroin dealers. Operation Granite Streets, as the police raid was dubbed, followed complaints of open-air drug dealing in Barre's downtown.
The hearing, to be convened at the Barre Auditorium, will include testimony from the nation's "drug czar," Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the White House. Senators will also hear from police officers, elected officials and a rehabilitated addict.
Barre City Police Chief Timothy Bombardier said the hearing will provide a good opportunity to air issues about drug-related crime in a public setting.
"I think it's good from the standpoint of bringing awareness to the city," Bombardier said. "I think it's good to let the citizens know what's going on, because a lot of the stuff that's done to combat drugs is done kind of behind the scenes."
Asked whether Barre has a drug problem, Bombardier said every municipality struggles with narcotics.
"I think, depending on who you talk to, there's a drug problem everywhere in the country," Bombardier said. "The question is what is that problem exactly and how does it impact your community."
The high-profile raid in 2009, Bombardier said, certainly didn't eradicate the problem.
"I said it back then – this is not the end of it," he said. "Other people are going to come to take the place of those who were arrested and it will pick back up and we'll have to deal with it again. And we do."
Leahy noted his close ties with the city, saying his father was born in Barre and his grandfather is buried there. Hearing firsthand from Barre's own, he said, will help the committee form legislation and policies to combat the problem.
This is very similar to a hearing that I might have in the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington," Leahy said. "The difference is people won't have to travel 550 miles to the Senate to hear it. We're bringing the Senate there."
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