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Resident says broken plow blocked Manning Hill for hours; Selectboard asks police to review on-call guidance
Summary
A Winchester resident told the Selectboard that a broken plow truck blocked Manning Hill for about four hours early Feb. 24, prompting calls for clearer on-call response guidance; the police chief said he will review 2023 guidance and Captain Rataj will audit dispatch records.
A Winchester resident told the Selectboard on Feb. 25 that a broken-down plow truck blocked the northbound lane of Manning Hill for about four hours, raising safety concerns and prompting the board to ask police leaders to review on-call response guidance.
Stacy Corliss said she called dispatch at 5:35 a.m. to report a plow truck with no lights, cones or flares blocking the lane; according to Corliss, the first call to dispatch was recorded at 4:04 a.m. and it was about 7:51 a.m. before an officer visited the owner’s home and arranged a tow. "It was four hours that the lane on Manning Hill was blocked," Corliss said, and she urged the board to free overtime funds so officers can respond promptly.
Police Chief Rice acknowledged the delay and said the department operates primarily on an on-call model rather than 24/7 staffing. "We do not have 24/7 coverage; we have somebody on-call," the chief said, and he added that until last fall the town had more experienced officers covering on-call shifts. Rice said he will locate a 2023 on-call guidance document that was shared with the sheriff’s department and that Captain Rataj will review dispatch recordings to identify what went wrong and recommend better guidance.
Several selectmen said the situation pointed to a lack of clarity rather than deliberate inaction. Selectman Stephens said responding to a hazard on Manning Hill should be handled by common sense; Selectman Marsh agreed that written lists can miss scenarios but said better guidance would help junior officers make decisions. "We can fix the past but will work on fixing it going forward," Selectman Kilanski said.
The board did not take a formal vote on staffing levels. Chief Rice described the plan as an operational review and said it is intended to provide clearer direction to on-call officers; Captain Rataj’s review of dispatch records and a refreshed guidance document were recorded as the next steps. The board did not specify a deadline for the review.
The Selectboard also discussed the wider question of overtime and whether to allocate funds to ensure officers can respond; no change to budgeting or staffing was adopted at the meeting.
