The American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont has called for a grand jury to investigate the death of Wayne J. Brunette, who was fatally shot Nov. 6 outside his home in Burlington’s New North End minutes after police arrived on the scene.
Allen Gilbert, executive director of the ACLU-VT, wants a prosecutor to take up the case before a grand jury so that the details of the shooting will become public and spur a debate on statewide police use-of-force regulation.
“I think the main problem right now in Vermont is that the use-of-force continuum in the state encourages police to use a level of force that is often not appropriate for the situation they are in,” Gilbert said.
Currently, each of the state’s town, city, county and state police agencies follow their own use-of-force protocols, he said.
Earlier this month, Burlington police responded to a call from Ruthine “Dolly” Brunette who said her 49-year-old son was acting irrationally and damaging property. Burlington Police Cpls. Ethan Thibault and Brent Navari arrived and found Brunette waving a shovel, according to Vermont State Police.
Thibault shot Brunette multiple times in the torso, according to the preliminary findings by the Vermont Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. His death has been classified as a medical homicide.
Both Burlington police officers were unharmed during the incident and have since returned to work.
It remains unclear whether Thibault was justified in shooting Brunette, who was armed with a shovel and had a history of mental illness.
The Burlington Police Department is conducting an internal investigation to determine if proper procedure was followed and the Vermont State Police is leading a criminal investigation. The Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office will then independently review the criminal inquiry before deciding whether to criminally prosecute the Burlington police officer who shot Brunette.
Gilbert said it is unlikely that Thibault will be prosecuted. However, he said Attorney General William H. Sorrell has prosecuted about 18 police officers during his tenure.
The results of these investigations are often exempt from public disclosure because victims’ families sometimes bring civil lawsuits against police officers, Gilbert said. Also, he said these cases are often settled out of court with no written judgment justifying the use of force.
This process, he said, delays an overdue public discussion on use-of-force protocols in the state.
“Often times it is months – if not years – until it’s possible even to have a discussion with all the so-called facts on the table,” Gilbert said.
During the second half of the legislative biennium, ACLU-VT will push for statewide police licensing requirements, Gilbert said. He said there are many other professions that require licensing, from doctors to plumbers, but not police officers.
S.248, currently in committee, was introduced last January to set a statewide licensing requirement for police officers and new law enforcement regulations.
Gilbert said the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council should set a statewide procedure for how police officers interact with suspects with mental health issues.
Act 80, established during the 2003-2004 General Assembly, funded training programs for law enforcement officers responding to suspects with mental health issues. However, Gilbert said only about half of the state’s law enforcement have received this training at last check two years ago.
