Detective Awarded for Work with Kids

Wednesday, December 20 BENNINGTON - Protecting local children from predators is more then a job for one local police officer, it's a mission. 30 years of experience Detective Larry Cole of the Bennington Police Department has been a law enforcement officer for about 30 years, but it is his work investigating sex crimes committed against children in the past three years that has cast a spotlight on the quiet, unassuming man. When speaking to Cole about his job, it's easy to see that it is draining, both mentally and physically, but it hasn't stopped Cole from being successful and going above and beyond his colleagues expectations. "It's so difficult. Here I am, a 53-year-old guy, going in to sit down with a six-year-old girl who's never seen me in her life, asking about private parts. More than likely, it's somebody that they know that did something to them because the whole 'stranger-danger' thing is not what it's about. It's about who you know that did this to you," he said Tuesday in an interview at the police station. Bennington Police Chief Richard Gauthier said he and Cole's fellow officers understand the involvement required to perform Cole's job, which makes his accomplishments even more special.

"For people who don't know what that's like, it's an extremely difficult way to spend your time at work. It tends to burn officers out, but he's been great. His performance has been outstanding. ... He's shown himself to be an exemplary officer all the way around," said Gauthier. Cole received an award Tuesday from the Vermont Agency of Human Services recognizing his devotion to his job and the young victims he works tirelessly to protect. Cole was one of three people honored statewide this year for their work to better the health and well-being of Vermonters. After working part time for the force since 1980, Cole was hired full time in 2001. Three years ago he was assigned to be a detective in the department's bureau of criminal investigations where he helped to revolutionize the way things were run. Gary Briggs, an investigator with the Bennington County State's Attorney's office, works closely with Cole on a daily basis. As a member of the BPD force when Cole became a detective, Briggs said he knew Cole would be great on the job. "I was very much in favor of Larry stepping in and being a detective. Larry has really stepped up to the plate for the police department in helping to protect children," said Briggs. "What he does is above and beyond, and that's what you look for. ... He really does a great job for the children and their families." Shortly after he was assigned to be a detective, Cole traveled to a training course on sex crimes committed against children. It would change the way he approached his job, he said. "I found it very interesting, and being able to spend a week out there talking to other detectives who have been doing this type of thing ... I could see the passion they had for their job," said Cole. Returning from that course, Cole began to think about how the team of three detectives in Bennington could best serve the department and the community. His solution seemed logical and easy to accomplish. "I said, 'I'm new at this end of things, but doesn't it make a lot of sense that we take those particular areas that are of the most interest to us and pretty much exclusively work on them because we can get better?'" he said. They decided to try it for six months. Cole began to focus on crimes committed against children, Detective Peter Urbanowicz specialized in drug investigations and Detective David Rowland took over the "white collar" crimes such as financial fraud and bad checks. As the detective assigned to focus on children, Cole requested and received permission to seek more training on gathering information from young children and how to interview accused offenders. "There are units that do this specifically and have a very high rate of success. So, I have been very fortunate over the last two and a half years to have been sent to several different schools specifically related to investigating child abuse investigations," he said. Two of the most intense training courses were focused on "forensic interview techniques," which has helped Cole deal with the most frustrating parts of his job. A program called "Finding Words" has helped Cole solve countless crimes, he said. "That's the secret, because you can't sit with a six-year-old and have her explain her first sexual experience to you because the words aren't there. ... You have to be aware of the inabilities of the children to give you a clear description of what it looked like, what it felt like, what it tasted like," he said. "It's so frustrating at times because you know it's there, you can see them struggling, so a lot is done on paper; asking them to draw, or putting things in front of them asking them to identify body parts." Although Cole received his award as an individual, he refuses to accept credit for his work alone. He says he is part of a team, without which he would not be successful. Part of that team is the Child Advocacy Center, a project that has helped to fix an oversight that has plagued the criminal justice system in the past, he said. Through teamwork, law enforcement, social workers, therapists, physicians and prosecutors are now working together to ensure that victim's and their families have the support systems they need to endure such a traumatic event. "Everybody works together. The problem we were having in the past is the criminal justice system tends to be slow, and what was happening was law enforcement would do their part and then be done," said Cole. Legal proceedings would take months, said Cole, leaving kids seemingly alone as their cases went forward. "In the meantime, you have the victim who has bared his or her soul to you and their life has been disrupted because, many times, it's in the home or a relative," he said. "Because of their disclosure, something bad has happened within their circle of friends or acquaintances and they're revictimized because they're the reason why dad, or uncle, or grandpa ... are no longer friends. They can look at that and think, 'had I not said something, everyone would have been happy,'" said Cole. Before the agencies began to work as a team, some cases could not be effectively prosecuted because the victims needs were not adequately addressed, said Cole. "The kid is floundering and now we've come back to some court proceedings and they clam up. They don't want to talk or they don't remember and the bad person walks. In the past three years we've had two bad people walk because we lost the victim. We're going to regain that," he said. Despite the long hours — Cole makes himself available to victims and their families at any time — and despite the emotional stress, Cole said the job is the most rewarding experience in his life. "When they trust you to do that, you've got to give 150 percent. They don't have any expectations. An adult has expectations, the kids don't. So, they don't know what they're going to get, but what they've got already is something pretty bad. I guess I want to show them that being truthful and honest and trusting people is rewarded," he said. "In my 30 years, I have never been more satisfied in the work that I do than I have been doing the work that I do with kids. They are the true innocent victims."