Lawmakers are on track to move forward with a bill that would change the state’s procedure for disciplining and decertifying police officers.
Police officers can only be decertified in Vermont under narrow circumstances, leaving open the possibility that problem officers can continue to work in law enforcement after on-the-job misconduct.
Agency hopping has been a concern of civil rights advocates, lawmakers and public safety officials for some time. Problem officers who have been disciplined by one department often stay in law enforcement by moving to a different agency.
A study committee met through the summer and fall last year to draw up a proposal for reforming the system. The House passed the bill earlier this year on a voice vote.
The version of the H.22 the House approved gives the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council more flexibility to address different levels of officer misconduct with sanctions including a written warning, temporary suspension of an officer’s certification, or revocation, with or without the option to recertify.
It also creates a process that would allow law enforcement agencies to contact an officer’s prior employer during the hiring process to learn about the circumstances of their departure.
Now in the Senate Government Operations Committee, the Vermont State Employees Association, which represents about 150 law enforcement officers in state government, is raising concerns that the proposed process would violate officers’ contractual due process rights.
The VSEA is asking lawmakers to change the bill so that decertification of an officer could be put on hold until that individual has the opportunity to appeal a dismissal through the Vermont Labor Board. If the board determines that the officer was wrongly disciplined, that individual would not also lose their certification and would be able to go back to work in law enforcement.
“All we’re asking for, which seems like a very reasonable request, is that the council not take action until that process is complete,” Howard said.
Some resisted the proposal, arguing that the decertification process, which is the responsibility of the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council, is a separate matter from the officer’s employment.
In committee testimony Thursday, Rick Gauthier, executive director of the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council, said the proposal to freeze an officer’s certification pending the appeals process is not lawful.
Lia Ernst, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, urged the committee “to not take any last minute measures that seriously undermine the intent of the bill.”
Ernst said the proposal had been drawn up through a lengthy negotiation process and many compromises had already been made.
“We always knew that this was going to be a bill that had something for everybody to dislike,” Ernst said.
Ernst raised concerns that the VSEA’s proposal may allow an officer to keep their certification and move to a different job while they wait for the labor appeal to resolve.
Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, chair of the committee, said senators will revisit the bill early next week, and White expects it will pass this year.
White said it is important to reform the decertification process.
“If you’ve got a bad actor out there, you’ve got to be able to get rid of them,” White said.
A change in the process for decertification of law enforcement officers could increase public confidence I think in looking at police so that it doesn’t look like they’re such a closed unit,” she said.
