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Bennington police: white boxes on Northside Drive are traffic sensors, not license-plate readers; department wins $34,999 drone grant
Summary
Chief Paul Doucette told the Select Board on July 13 that white boxes along Northside Drive are traffic sensors installed with the Agency of Transportation to optimize signal timing, not license-plate-reader cameras, and announced a state grant to purchase a drone for public safety at a cost of $34,999.
Police Chief Paul Doucette used his July 13 department update to address resident concerns about devices on Northside Drive and to outline recent staffing and equipment developments.
On the widely discussed roadside boxes, Doucette said: "Those white little boxes that you see down on Northside Drive are not flock cameras... those little white boxes that you see above the traffic lights are actually sensors." He said the devices are intended to detect vehicles at the stop bar and speed light-cycling for traffic flow and emergency-vehicle preemption.
Doucette also told the board the department is not using license-plate readers (LPRs): "In Bennington we're not using LPRs," he said, noting some nearby communities use the technology for enforcement but the town does not.
On staffing, Doucette reported the department lost an officer effective that day to another agency offering higher pay, but that a recruit has qualified for the academy and a former officer may return in September. He described an ongoing union-certification process before the Vermont Labor Board and said the department is working on recruitment and retention measures.
On equipment, Doucette announced the department will take delivery of several traffic-calming, solar-powered radar signs for data collection and speed feedback; two of those signs will be installed on Monument Avenue per Select Board direction. He also said the town received a state grant to buy a drone for public-safety purposes and cited the purchase price as $34,999.
The department also will hold a COPSS (school-supplies/backpack) event at Walmart to help assemble roughly 300 backpacks for distribution at Bennington Night Out. Doucette described the community outreach program and thanked partners who have helped make the event possible.
No formal board action was taken on the policing items; members thanked the chief and asked staff to return with any materials the public had requested, for example a more detailed departmental report or crime-call breakdowns for the town report.
