BRATTLEBORO-Representatives from nine towns will convene the first meeting of the Law Enforcement Governance Council Friday, Aug. 7.
The regional policing pilot required at least five towns to join the council before it could move into its next phase.
Municipal council members — Athens, Grafton, Guilford, Jamaica, Londonderry, Marlboro, Newfane, Putney, and Vernon — will define the program’s scope of service, administration, budget, and legislative reporting for how the Windham County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) provides policing in Windham County.
“This is a project designed to learn about issues Vermont has not successfully solved in 60 years,” said Sheriff Mark Anderson.
Policing in Vermont varies: Municipalities rely on elected constables, local police departments, the Vermont State Police, contracts with neighboring towns, or the Sheriff’s department.
Earlier this year, the Legislature passed Act 104, which authorized the WCSO, in collaboration with municipalities, to develop a regional policing program for towns without a dedicated police department.
Funding is through a special tax assessment on member municipalities, with the pilot’s budget funneled through the county’s tax system.
Anderson acknowledged the council’s process is uncharted territory.
He said that officials of some towns that passed on the opportunity worried that the pilot is new and untested. Others wanted to see the completed program before joining, or simply lacked the capacity for another commitment, he added.
To Anderson, the reasons towns said “no” proved the pilot’s problem statement: “Services stink, and towns are overwhelmed.”
Still, he’s eager to see the council solves regional policing and anticipates that shifting from a fee-for-service model to a countywide contract will give residents better access to public safety services.
Towns eager to address some unmet policing needs
Marlboro contracts with WCSO for 17 hours a month for its policing needs. Its Selectboard voted last month to join the governance council, with members saying they wanted the opportunity to shape the program.
Upon hearing the board’s conversation, Road Foreman Andrew Richardson responded with, “We need everything.”
The board and Richardson shared stories about law enforcement taking an hour to show up at an accident, or getting lost and driving to Wilmington.
The Selectboard hoped the council could visit towns and ask residents what they want from the program.
Board member Kate Kirkwood will represent Marlboro on the council.
In Guilford, the Selectboard has spent a lot of time on the regional policing question.
“We are really supportive of what Mark [Anderson] is trying to do,” said Guilford Board Chair Sheila Morse.
Despite contracts with the WCSO and Vermont State Police, the town has safety needs that remain unmet, Morse said.
Specifically, the board worries about its emergency response volunteers, who are receiving more non-fire emergency calls. Volunteers need additional support when the call includes a mental health or substance-use component, she said.
Historically, the town has elected a constable, but rising training costs and growing needs made the role unsustainable. At the 2024 Annual Town Meeting, voters approved $68,000 to investigate regional policing.
According to Morse, without a regional group to join, the town paused its efforts.
“And then Mark went full tilt boogie to get his initiative passed,” she said. “I mean, considering how many bills are presented to the Vermont Legislature every year, and he got his pilot program for Windham County through, that’s amazing. So, yeah, we’re back.”
Shared access and shared money
Thirty years ago, if you’d told former State Senator Jeanette White she’d champion a regional policing pilot, she’d have laughed, she said. However, as head of the Senate Committee on Government Operations, White became enmeshed in Vermont law enforcement.
“There’s huge inequity in the money and the access in the rural communities,” she said of law enforcement in Vermont.
For example, contracts lock deputies into towns for a specific number of hours. If an emergency happens in a neighboring town, deputies are not allowed to respond, she said.
White worked on regional policing with Anderson’s predecessor, Sheriff Keith Clark, and Francis “Paco” X. Aumand III, retired from a career in Vermont law enforcement.
Aumand’s experience includes work as police chief in Bellows Falls, deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Safety, and executive director of the Central Vermont Public Safety Authority.
White said that collaboration highlighted for her the complexities of regional policing models and helped her understand why few succeed.
She believes this regional policing pilot will work if participating towns commit to building the program and funding the budget that will eventually serve them.
“I just think this model of shared access and shared money makes the most sense,” she said.
The Law Enforcement Governance Council’s organizational meeting takes place Friday, Aug. 7, at 8 a.m. at the Windham County Sheriff’s Office, 185 Old Ferry Rd, in Brattleboro. The full meeting warning can be found at windhamcountyvt.gov/news.php.
This News item by Olga Peters was written for The Commons.