Waterville Elementary School kids last week line up in the school parking lot to pay a visit to the dentists on board Flo, the new mobile dental unit recently introduced by Lamoille Health Partners. Photo by Gordon Miller/News & BridgeThis story by Patrick Bilow was first published in The Citizen on Dec. 12Hinesburg is a small rural town with rolling hills, a few remaining dairy farms and longtime neighbors, but despite the community feel, crime has been steadily rising over the last three years and one infraction stands out among the rest.“It seems like every week there’s a stolen car or a car recovered or something going on that hasn’t traditionally gone on,” Hinesburg police chief Anthony Cambridge said.Over the weekend, five stolen cars were recovered in Hinesburg, including three at one location on Tyler Bridge Road, and three people were arrested for trespassing and stealing them.Last month, someone stole a 2006 Jayco RV from a driveway on Ledgewood Lane when the owner was home. That person was eventually arrested after the vehicle was found on North Road, and police discovered another stolen vehicle related to the original crime.In some cases, frustrated vehicle owners have set out on their own to recover their property before calling the police. One incident in November resulted in a vehicle pursuit and another ended with a brief standoff after police finally caught up to the carjacker.There have been 51 cases of vehicles stolen or recovered in Hinesburg this year, according to Cambridge. Last year there were 12; in 2022 there were four and in 2021 there was only 1.Overall, crime rates in Hinesburg are also increasing. Officers have responded to 2,433 cases so far this year. There were 2,106 cases in 2023 and 1,566 cases in 2022.Cambridge said cases are not only rising but also becoming more severe.Gone are the days of proactive community policing, like helping with car lockouts or car seat installations.“Instead, we’re dealing with car thefts or, you know, we go to make a traffic stop and the car flees,” Cambridge said. “The cases are just becoming more intense.”During his 12 years with the Hinesburg Police Department, Cambridge has noticed spikes in crime, but it was always easy enough to get to the root of what was going on because the incidents were often related.In most cases, there would be a repeat offender or a notorious individual causing trouble, so the police would arrest that person, or they’d move on, and that crime spike would even out.“But we have no idea who these people are anymore,” said Cambridge. “There are so many different people involved, and these cases don’t seem to be related. I’ve seen things escalate over the last five years, but the last year, especially the last six months, have gotten tremendously worse.”Some of the individuals arrested over the past six months are from Hinesburg, but most are from nearby towns, according to police incident reports from the last few months.Cambridge said most of the stolen cars recovered in Hinesburg were used to get from one place to another, then abandoned.While some vehicles were stolen and found in Hinesburg, most were stolen elsewhere and recovered in Hinesburg. Of the three cars recovered on Tyler Bridge Road over the weekend, two were from Montpelier and one was from Williston. The individual arrested, Joshua Jerger, is from Starksboro.In some cases, the stolen cars were also used to commit other crimes like theft. There is a corner at the Hinesburg Police Department for stolen items that were recovered from stolen vehicles. Cambridge said officers have no idea where the items came from or if the owners even know the items are missing.The recent spike is straining an already-lean police force in Hinesburg. Complicated cases require days of investigation, hours of paperwork and stressful moments in the field, and recent budget issues for the town could make the situation worse as the selectboard considers making personnel cuts in the department.Two years ago, Hinesburg entered into an agreement to offer police services in Richmond, a town that at the time was struggling to staff a full department. Under the agreement, Cambridge became the acting chief for both towns, reporting to two selectboards and overseeing roughly 80 square miles of police coverage.Despite this arrangement, Richmond intended on eventually hiring more officers and rebuilding its department, but Cambridge, a resident of Richmond with more than a decade of service in Hinesburg, would remain chief for both towns.The agreement was advantageous for both towns. Richmond had its first steady police presence in years and Hinesburg was pulling in around $400,000 a year from Richmond for policing in the town, according to Cambridge.Hinesburg, which currently has six officers, came to rely on that reimbursement, but that money was always earmarked for more officers in Richmond, and starting next year, it will start flowing back to Richmond for recruiting.The chief hopes to hire four officers in Richmond starting next year, but that means less revenue for Hinesburg, which is struggling with other budget shortfalls after two major flooding events this summer.Now, as Richmond rebuilds, Hinesburg is considering cutting at least one of its officers, according to selectboard chair Merrily Lovell, depending on Richmond’s recruiting efforts and the status of its contract with Hinesburg. Budget talks are still ongoing, and no decisions have been made.“I think it’s unfortunate for the police department and the town,” said Cambridge, who added that he also recently lost an important administrative role at the department due to budget cuts. “Nobody wants to see a department go backwards.”Cambridge hopes the situation will rebound. His vision for policing in Hinesburg and Richmond is to have eight officers and an administrative person for both towns.But in the meantime, he’s been working to keep up with a rise in crime in both places.A big part of that effort is communicating criminal activity to the community, which he’s starting to do through Facebook. Last week, he posted a message highlighting the car thefts and reminded people to bring their keys inside with them at night, dispelling rumors that the cars were hotwired.“We don’t want to scare people,” Cambridge said. “Hinesburg is changing but it’s still a great community. I think transparency is important during a time like this and, you know, I’d advise a little more diligence when it comes to things like car keys.”Read the story on VTDigger here: Crime steadily rises, stolen vehicles spike in Hinesburg.