I was pretty happy with the Reformer's account of last night's Select Board meeting, except for the part where Barlow mentions the mediation process is for "victims" and police officers.
Using the word victim implies there's a crime, making the officer the criminal.
I talked with Chief Martin about complaints when this whole thing was hitting the fan back in February. He tells me most complaints are of the misunderstanding variety. Someone's kid gets a ticket and tells daddy the cop was mean to them....when what actually occured is that the officer wrote the ticket and didn't listen to the kid's "explanation" and rip up the ticket. (Cops can't do that, by the way..the only way to get a ticket to go away is to go to court with it).
If someone complained about a bank teller, the Reformer wouldn't call that person a victim, would they?
In SOME circumstances, the person may be considered a victim--if they were injured or a crime was committed against them for instance....but if they just have a beef minor enough to be mediated, the word choice is wrong.