DISQUS

Someone needs to look up "secret" in a dictionary.

As this article illustrates, too many people are misinterpreting the move to eliminate the chief position as purely an attempt to fire Basinas. That is not the case. The primary issue is whether Lyndeborough even needs a police chief. It does not. Lyndeborough is town of fewer than 1,800 people. According to FBI statistics, the national average of police officers to population is 1:285.7 (but Hawaii County, Hawaii finds 1:1,000 to be adequate). Whether Lyndeborough needs one officer or 6.3, I have to wonder if so few people need daily supervision by a highly paid police chief. During my years in the Air Force, such small numbers of people were usually supervised by a non-commissioned officer, a sergeant. A small town like Lyndeborough should find that option to be more cost-effective.

Even with a police chief on hand, Lyndeborough found it necessary to rely on neighboring police departments for administrative assistance (evidence handling and storage, et cetera) and extended prisoner detention; clearly having a chief did not make Lyndeborough's department self-sufficient. As that is the case, why not eliminate an expensive position, and spend some of the savings on formal mutual support agreements with other departments? Some NH towns have even found such agreements to be adequate in providing all police coverage, without having their own police departments at all.

In a town of Lyndeborough's size the main effect of a police chief is to add a another layer of bureaucracy, spend money, and play politics. Basinas merely illustrates the problem.

Eliminating the police chief's position is a long-term good for Lyndeborough. That it also allows the town to rid itself of Basinas is a convenient short-term good.

Lyndeborough survived without a chief before; let's try it again.

Carl Bussjaeger
Lyndeborough resident

I've got news for you: Your site almost always has long-to-perpetual load times. I'm fairly sure that it's your server rather than my connection, because it's about as slow whether I'm on dial-up or broadband. Most mornings, I try to get a few articles, then give up on you. I don't even try to use the Telegraph for anything but strictly local news.

I've got news for you: Your site almost always has long-to-perpetual load times. I'm fairly sure that it's your server rather than my connection, because it's about as slow whether I'm on dial-up or broadband. Most mornings, I try to get a few articles, then give up on you. I don't even try to use the Telegraph for anything but strictly local news.