Police procedure: Rural Vermont; investigating a certain setting

muravyets · May 1, 2012

Hi, all. I’m obsessing over the staging of movements in my opening chapter, and I’m having trouble finding information on appropriate police procedure in a given situation. Maybe it’s a judgment call, and all this needs to be is believable, so I'd like to hear either actual procedure or informed opinions as to believability. I did a search for this topic and found one older thread similar but not quite the same, because I have my cops doing related stuff that I have questions about, too.

This is an supernatural detective story. The big event in this scene involves a ghost.

The scene is a park, late at night, in a small Vermont town (pop. ~~between 2500-3000 people~~ correction: about 4000), in the present day. The town has a small police force supported as needed by partnership with other towns and state police. I looked that arrangement up. The primary model for my town and police department is Brandon, Vermont. Link to Brandon PD website.

Two officers in a patrol car are heading home at the end of their shift. They pass a park. The park covers the banks of a river. One of them, my FMC, notices suspicious activity in the park as they cross the bridge over the river. The disturbance - weird lights - seems to be occurring on both sides. I have them split up to cover each bank. They maintain radio contact. It seems it is a false alarm. They find nothing.

However, upon heading back to meet her partner, my FMC is confronted by a ghost which attacks her. MMC, who is there for a reason we learn later, comes to her aid, and they escape and rejoin FMC’s partner.

Main question:

> Would two police officers split up like that to investigate a scene that has two distinct sections, such as the banks of a river?

Lesser questions:

> Would cops getting off work late at night call in to sign off duty rather than go in to the station house?

> Would cops in such a place park a patrol car at their house? Or would they go to the station to switch vehicles?

I have another question about the aftermath of this in my second chapter:

Upon rejoining her partner, FMC lies about what happened. She doesn’t want to say she saw a ghost, obviously, so she blurts out the first thing that pops into her nerve-wracked mind. She says she was attacked by some feral dogs.

Later, I have it that she is not believed (her superiors have reason), but procedure is followed anyway for the sake of due diligence. I have that procedure as: 1) Getting a statement about it from MMC. 2) Handing it off to Animal Control for the county (I'll look up who that is later). 3) Animal Control putting out some humane traps, catching some raccoons, and ridiculing the town cops for thinking raccoons are dogs. 4) That pretty much does it. The world moves on.

> Does that response to a report of feral dogs in a modern rural Vermont town seem likely?

Thanks.

Deleted member 42 · May 1, 2012

A town that small in Vt. might not have cops and a squad car--a lot don't. They have an elected constable, and state troopers.

They also might not have city parks--a town common is typical, and of course there are local graveyards and the local school yard.

Look at Newfane, or Townshend VT.

Brandon is around 4000 people, not counting the tourists.

muravyets · May 1, 2012

Thanks, Medievalist. In that case, I would increase the size of the town because I need my FMC to be in this job in this situation. I'll edit that in the OP, so let's say the model is Brandon.

By the way, the town does have a common. It also has a park on the banks of the regulation required river, which is based on a combination of the riverbank parks in Brandon, Middlebury and Vergennes. Anyone need pictures? I can post links tomorrow after work.

frimble3 · May 1, 2012

I am no expert on police procedure, or Vermont, but I think it would be unlikely that they would split up, late at night, if they don't know what they're walking into. 'Weird lights in a park' might just be underage kids, drinking in the park, but if there's a bunch of them, and they panic, it could be dangerous to be a lone cop. If it's criminals, and they don't want the police around, it could be worse.

jclarkdawe · May 2, 2012

muravyets said:
Hi, all. I’m obsessing over the staging of movements in my opening chapter, and I’m having trouble finding information on appropriate police procedure in a given situation. Maybe it’s a judgment call, and all this needs to be is believable, so I'd like to hear either actual procedure or informed opinions as to believability. I did a search for this topic and found one older thread similar but not quite the same, because I have my cops doing related stuff that I have questions about, too.

This is an supernatural detective story. The big event in this scene involves a ghost.

The scene is a park, late at night, in a small Vermont town (pop. ~~between 2500-3000 people~~ correction: about 4000), in the present day. 4,000 people is a medium sized Vermont town, not small. The town has a small police force supported as needed by partnership with other towns and state police. I looked that arrangement up. The primary model for my town and police department is Brandon, Vermont. Link to Brandon PD website.

Two officers in a patrol car are heading home at the end of their shift. Unlikely that two of them would be in one patrol car. Most towns that size don't have two officers on for one shift, although they can. But even then, they won't be in one car. It's not an effective use of their limited resources. They pass a park. The park covers the banks of a river. I'd think more of flood control land. Much more common. One of them, my FMC, notices suspicious activity in the park as they cross the bridge over the river. The disturbance - weird lights - seems to be occurring on both sides. There's a Jodi Picoult book that starts out sort of like this. I have them split up to cover each bank. They maintain radio contact. It seems it is a false alarm. They find nothing.

However, upon heading back to meet her partner, my FMC is confronted by a ghost which attacks her. MMC, who is there for a reason we learn later, comes to her aid, and they escape and rejoin FMC’s partner.

Main question:

> Would two police officers split up like that to investigate a scene that has two distinct sections, such as the banks of a river? They could. It depends upon the officers, and their sense of threat. A lot of time police officers in smaller communities have to work by themselves.

Lesser questions:

> Would cops getting off work late at night call in to sign off duty rather than go in to the station house? There might not even be anyone at the police station. More likely they're signing off with the radio dispatcher, who might be the sheriff's department.

> Would cops in such a place park a patrol car at their house? Or would they go to the station to switch vehicles? Depends upon the department's policy. Some departments allow officers to use their patrol vehicle to commute, on the understanding that they will respond when they are off duty.

I have another question about the aftermath of this in my second chapter:

Upon rejoining her partner, FMC lies about what happened. She doesn’t want to say she saw a ghost, obviously, so she blurts out the first thing that pops into her nerve-wracked mind. She says she was attacked by some feral dogs. Not feral dogs, coy-dogs.

Later, I have it that she is not believed (her superiors have reason), but procedure is followed anyway for the sake of due diligence. I have that procedure as: 1) Getting a statement about it from MMC. 2) Handing it off to Animal Control for the county (I'll look up who that is later). 3) Animal Control putting out some humane traps, catching some raccoons, and ridiculing the town cops for thinking raccoons are dogs. 4) That pretty much does it. The world moves on. Coy-dogs tend to be poisoned rather then trapped. It's unlikely there's none around. And although a healthy coyote or coy-dog is unlikely to attack a human, this just happened: Possibly rabid coyote attacks NH teen in Hopkinton

> Does that response to a report of feral dogs in a modern rural Vermont town seem likely? Rabies, rabies, rabies. More likely then animal control, which they probably don't have, they'd have either the state Fish & Game department or a local trapper.

Thanks.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

Deleted member 42 · May 2, 2012

Write or call and ask.

Have you looked for the local papers?

muravyets · May 2, 2012

jclarkdawe said:
4,000 people is a medium sized Vermont town, not small.

Yes, thanks. Medievalist pointed that out, so I upped the size of the town. The size actually doesn't really matter. My intention is for the crisis to become more and more internalized as it goes along, so that it will essentially move away from the public social sphere. I just need to find the right balance of what the FMC needs and what the plot's Dire Situation needs for both to be believable.

Unlikely that two of them would be in one patrol car. Most towns that size don't have two officers on for one shift, although they can. But even then, they won't be in one car. It's not an effective use of their limited resources.

Click to expand...

Yes, I'm realizing that you're right. I'll have to rework these events to have FMC alone until the ghost and MMC show up.

I'd think more of flood control land. Much more common.

Click to expand...

For reference, as it might help understand what the FMC is looking at, here are picture references to the particular riverside parks I'm using as models. These are three of the more picturesque examples of a typical, standard town/river arrangement in Vermont. I'm personally familiar all three of these locations, having lived in this part of the state for several years in the past. By the way, flooding is a big issue with mountain rivers like these, as many of these quaint scenes were devastated by last year's Hurricane Irene floods, especially the Brandon falls and riverside.

Middlebury, VT (medium park): Link. Link.

Brandon, VT (little parklet): Link. Link. The river passes from the falls, under the buildings and street, to the cascade and then to a wide flood bend.

Vergennes, VT (big park): Link. Link. One of those buildings in the waterfall is an operating hydroelectric plant.

What I'm envisioning is something akin to these three - a steep rocky sluice out of the mountains that bottoms out into a flatter area from which the river then continues on through the valley to Lake Champlain or the Hudson River. At that sluice-like section, it is hemmed in by formerly water-powered industrial construction. The banks are steep and rocky and sections are either enclosed or replaced entirely with man-made walls.

There's a Jodi Picoult book that starts out sort of like this. I have them split up to cover each bank. They maintain radio contact. It seems it is a false alarm. They find nothing.

Click to expand...

The light actually is a clue to the perpetrators of the mystery.

> Would two police officers split up like that to investigate a scene that has two distinct sections, such as the banks of a river? They could. It depends upon the officers, and their sense of threat. A lot of time police officers in smaller communities have to work by themselves.

Lesser questions:

> Would cops getting off work late at night call in to sign off duty rather than go in to the station house? There might not even be anyone at the police station. More likely they're signing off with the radio dispatcher, who might be the sheriff's department.

> Would cops in such a place park a patrol car at their house? Or would they go to the station to switch vehicles? Depends upon the department's policy. Some departments allow officers to use their patrol vehicle to commute, on the understanding that they will respond when they are off duty.

I have another question about the aftermath of this in my second chapter:

Upon rejoining her partner, FMC lies about what happened. She doesn’t want to say she saw a ghost, obviously, so she blurts out the first thing that pops into her nerve-wracked mind. She says she was attacked by some feral dogs. Not feral dogs, coy-dogs.

Later, I have it that she is not believed (her superiors have reason), but procedure is followed anyway for the sake of due diligence. I have that procedure as: 1) Getting a statement about it from MMC. 2) Handing it off to Animal Control for the county (I'll look up who that is later). 3) Animal Control putting out some humane traps, catching some raccoons, and ridiculing the town cops for thinking raccoons are dogs. 4) That pretty much does it. The world moves on. Coy-dogs tend to be poisoned rather then trapped. It's unlikely there's none around. And although a healthy coyote or coy-dog is unlikely to attack a human, this just happened: Possibly rabid coyote attacks NH teen in Hopkinton

> Does that response to a report of feral dogs in a modern rural Vermont town seem likely? Rabies, rabies, rabies. More likely then animal control, which they probably don't have, they'd have either the state Fish & Game department or a local trapper.

Click to expand...

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

Thanks very much for your input! I'm thinking, for the town I have envisioned, my FMC would mostly likely be patrolling alone unless there was a particular reason for sending out two officers, from which the two of them are returning. I'll give that some thought.

I'd go with coy-dogs or a coyote if my FMC was (a) calm and (b) a country lass. She is a relatively recently transplanted New Yorker who I think would like think "dog" before "coy-dog" if she is distracted and upset. But that's a good point to raise and it might come in the story.

I will be researching exactly which agency would be called in to deal with such critters. That much is easy enough to look up.

muravyets · May 2, 2012

I'm still considering how to amend this scene for realism. There's a dramatic reason to have the FMC lie about her experience and this is a convenient place to introduce a conflict attached to the MMC in a way that reveals something about the FMC, too. Having another cop on scene allows all that to happen easily, but if I can make the scene work dramatically with just the one cop I'll do so. Otherwise, I'll think of something they could have been doing as a team that would have them driving back together. Maybe being loaned out to another township to assist with a traffic incident or something or dealing with a known problematic domestic disturbance situation in town.

In the meantime, great thanks to all who offered suggestions. Any more or other responses will be more than welcome.

Medievalist said:
Write or call and ask.

Have you looked for the local papers?

I've pulled public information on police services and inter-departmental cooperation from Vermont State gov and town web sources to see how they are set up, what kinds of services they perform, how they are financed, likely size of staff, what kind of tech and equipment they have, and so forth. I still have some research on administration to do, such as precisely which agency or body gets called for critter trouble. I've also used town PD websites as well as local and regional newspapers to get a sense of the relationship between cops and their communities. And I have researched police job boards and ads in profession-oriented publications to see if it could ever realistically happen that my New Yorker FMC could move to Vermont to work as a cop.

The thing I didn't find anywhere was an outline of procedure along the lines of "do A in X situation." That's why I thought it might be a judgment call for the responding officers, but I wanted to check if I was having them make a realistic judgment call.

I'll probably seek more direct Q/A type info from some public info officers when I've got the book a little more put together so I'll know what I need to ask.

Police procedure: Rural Vermont; investigating a certain setting

muravyets

Old revolutionary

Deleted member 42

muravyets

Old revolutionary

frimble3

Heckuva good sport

jclarkdawe

Feeling lucky, Query?

Deleted member 42

muravyets

Old revolutionary

muravyets

Old revolutionary