NORWICH — The Selectboard approved an expenditure request from the Police Department for spike strips during Wednesday’s meeting, in spite of outcry from residents on the town’s Listserv.

The Selectboard voted 4-1 in favor of using up to $10,000 of the Police Specialty Equipment reserve fund to purchase the spike strips, a device that can be laid on a roadway to deflate a vehicle’s tires, as well as forcible entry tools such as sledgehammers.

Leading up to the meeting, residents expressed concern both over what they described as frivolous spending and the perceived danger of the spike strips.

“Are these SPIKE STRIPS necessary for the NPD to provide safety in the town? Or, are they a ‘want’ NOT a ‘need’? Eliminating every little bit of unnecessary spending is helpful to reducing the budget,” wrote John Farrell.

Resident Charlotte Metcalf wrote in the Listserv about the death of state trooper Mike Johnson in 2003 who was struck by a vehicle in Thetford when the driver swerved to avoid the spike strips Johnson had laid out.

“How and under what circumstances does our police department plan to deploy such a device?? Will it be used to trap vehicles coming from outside town, on our town roads, where there may be innocents on foot or in other vehicles???” wrote Metcalf, who asked the same question via Zoom during the meeting.

Norwich Police Chief Matthew Romei, who had submitted the request for the spike strips, took some time to justify the department’s need for the equipment during Wednesday’s meeting.

He highlighted the frequency of drivers going the wrong-way on the interstate in Vermont.

“We run about double what would be the national average,” he said via Zoom.

Two weeks ago, an Acworth, N.H., man was eventually caught in Rockingham, Vt., after driving the wrong way on northbound Interstate 91.

Just last week, a vehicle fled from state police on the Hartford-Norwich border, Romei pointed out.

“These turn into incredibly dangerous situations,” Romei said.

Romei said he could imagine the spike strips being deployed on Route 5, “thruways connecting from other towns,” or on Norwich’s more than six miles of interstate.

Romei asserted that Norwich is “one of the very few law enforcement agencies in the Upper Valley that do not carry tire deflation devices.”

Resident Kris Clement questioned that. “Does Thetford have spike strips?” she asked.

Romei said he did not know the answer and told Clement to ask the Thetford department.

“The information about who has tire deflators and who doesn’t is mostly anecdotal,” wrote Romei in an email to the Valley News. “I would not reveal who has and doesn’t have them anyway — some things are better unknown.”

Messages left on Thursday for the Thetford Police Department seeking to determine whether the department has spike strips weren’t returned by deadline.

Romei encouraged residents to reach out to him directly if they have questions in the future to avoid confusion and panic.

“The spike strips are just a tool in the tool box,” he said in phone interview on Thursday.

Emma Roth-Wells can be reached at erothwells@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.