Harkness Is Barracks Commander
By Sandy Cooch

A Rhode Island native, Bill Harkness was working with the Rhode Island park police in the mid-1980s when he met a co-worker by the name of Ray Keefe. The two young men decided they wanted to become Vermont troopers and they drove up to Vermont and tested together. Both passed and entered the Vermont State Police training program in 1988.

This fall, Lt. William Harkness assumed command of the state police barracks in Royalton, taking over from none other than Ray Keefe.

An 18-year veteran of the VSP, Harkness has held a half-dozen positions in the force, most recently serving as a detective sergeant at the Royalton barracks, with a focus on arson cases. He was promoted to lieutenant in September.

In a recent interview in his barracks office, Harkness acknowledged his predecessor for making the transition into the commander’s post a smooth one. Keefe, now in charge of training and recruitment for VSP, left behind a well-run and effective barracks, Harkness said.

It’s also a brand new and well-appointed barracks. The $2.6-million facility, completed last fall, offers spacious offices, meeting rooms, a holding cell, and high-tech security systems.

The year-long construction project didn’t do anything to slow down Royalton troopers, who led the state’s 14 barracks in DUI arrests last year. According to Harkness, Royalton is on track to achieve that record again this year.

Aggressive patrols may be a big factor in keeping highway fatalities in the Royalton barracks’ 23-town territory low this year, despite a disturbing spike in highway deaths statewide.

Schools a Priority

School safety is a new top priority at the barracks, according to Harkness.

Sgt. Gerry Goguen has been assigned to visit all schools in the barracks’ region, to establish emergency response procedures at each. Goguen is developing a binder for each, complete with floor plans, photographs, and contact information.

Since joining the VSP, Harkness has been a trooper, patrol commander, traffic enforcement supervisor, and a plainclothes detective and arson investigator.

In addition to his enforcement work, Harkness has been active in the state police troopers union, serving as its president for the past 10 years.

Altogether, his experience has made him committed not only to public safety, but also to the well-being of his troopers. The demands of the job, Harkness knows only too well, can impinge on personal and family life.

A law enforcement career has its rewards, as well, including the freedom for "self-initiating" officers to use their wits and experience to respond to the moment, Harkness said.

As an example, he recalled a case from the early 1990s, when he was stationed at the Wilmington outpost of the Brattleboro barracks.

Harkness was one of two troopers dispatched at night to a report of a motor vehicle accident in Newfane. While en route, the troopers were advised of a new report of an assault, at a residence near the accident scene.

As troopers adjusted how they would respond, dispatch radioed again. A third call had been received, this one reporting a murder at a nearby residence.

"What troopers do when they get there (the crime scene), how they work, from beginning to end," Harkness noted, is usually pivotal to the resolution of a case.

The Newfane investigation, he said, resulted in a murder conviction.

____________