A police chief and a constable Tuesday told senators they oppose a bill that would reform the state’s system of part-time police officers.
In Vermont, departments can hire part-time police officers who have significantly less training than full-time officers and give them full law-enforcement powers, including the authority to carry and use firearms on the job.
A bill before the Senate Government Operations Committee, H.765, originally proposed to eliminate part-time certification.
House lawmakers changed the bill to create a three-tiered structure for officers with different types of training and duties.
The Vermont State Police, the Vermont Sheriffs’ Association and other law enforcement agencies support the bill, but some local chiefs say it is unnecessary and would be a financial burden on their small departments.
Senators Tuesday heard from Silas Loomis, president of the Vermont Constables Association, and Manchester Police Chief Michael Hall.
“You’re really hampering law enforcement’s ability to do their job by taking what has been a normal practice and changing it for what reason I don’t know,” Hall said.
The bill creates three certification levels. Level 3 would be full-time officers who have completed a 16-week live-in police academy; Level 2 officers would be allowed to respond to calls for crimes in progress; Level 1 officers would only be allowed to perform security, transport, vehicle escorts and traffic control.
Now, in Vermont, part-time officers must attend a 58-hour academy, then complete 50 hours of additional training and 60 hours of field training. They must also complete 30 hours of training each year and can’t work more than 32 hours per week.
Hall told senators crime is rising but departments and budgets are stagnant.
“Our officers are extremely busy,” he said. “Some of the best police officers that you have in this state are part-time police officers, just like your volunteer firemen.”
Part-time officers in Manchester attend the 58-hour training course at the police academy then complete ride-along field training and specialized equipment training, Hall said.
Manchester has eight full-time officers and four or five part-time, Hall said. They fill in when others are sick or on vacation and handle routine calls, he said.
Loomis said the bill would “burden monetarily on these small towns” and also hurt part-time officers who have other jobs.
“It’s the backbone of law enforcement,” he said.
Sen. Anthony Pollina, D/P/W-Washington asked Loomis about his own training. Loomis said he has “regular law enforcement training.” That includes training in domestic violence, first aid, Taser, pepper spray, baton, firearms and tactical weapons, negotiations and more, Loomis said.
But Loomis said he’s not very good at email.
“I’m still hunting and pecking,” Loomis said.
Hinesburg Police Chief Frank Koss also testified against the bill. (Hinesburg Democrat Rep. Bill Lippert, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is the bill’s sponsor.)
Hinesburg has five full-time officers and four part-timers who work a total of 40 hours, Koss said. It would cost at least another $50,000 in benefits to hire a sixth full-time officer, he said.
Koss said the training academy should make sure it has the capacity to train officers who will need more training if the bill passes.
The sheriffs association, meanwhile, supports the bill.
“Not only do we support it, we hope it goes through,” said Keith Clark, Windham County sheriff and president of the Vermont Sheriffs’ Association. Clark came to testify Tuesday but will return at a later date because the committee was behind schedule.
Clark said the bill won’t much change the way he already operates, with part-time officers performing specialized duties and full-time officers having more responsibilities.
Meanwhile, the law doesn’t prevent a department from hiring all part-time officers, as long as no one works more than 32 hours.
“Do we really want people to have a much less level of training doing a full-time job?” Clark said.
