[A] proposed update to Vermont’s policy on fair and impartial policing is drawing criticism from advocacy groups that work with unauthorized immigrants.
The groups, including the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, Migrant Justice, and Justice for All, issued a joint statement Thursday saying the proposed changes result in a “significantly weakened” policy.
Jay Diaz, an ACLU staff attorney, said among those concerns is that the changes may keep immigrants from reporting crimes out of fear that interactions with police could lead to detention and deportation.
“It makes all of us unsafe when people are afraid to report to police when they see criminal acts or are victims of criminal acts,” Diaz said.
The Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council is expected to take action on the proposal at its meeting starting at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Vermont Fire Academy in Pittsford.
Act 54, approved last session, required the council to consult with “stakeholders” and revisit a model policy on fair and impartial policing adopted last year.
The point of the policy is to prevent bias from influencing policing.
“We have to come up with a new policy that every law enforcement agency adopts beginning January 2018,” said Brandon Police Chief Christopher Brickell, the council’s chair. “We’re trying to meet that legislative mandate.”
The aim, according to a statement of purpose in the policy adopted in 2016, is to set a standard for policing in a “fair and impartial manner” and “to clarify the circumstances in which officers can consider personal characteristics when making law enforcement decisions.”
The policy also seeks to “reinforce processes and procedures that enable us to provide services and enforce laws in an equitable and impartial way,” according to that statement of purpose.
The advocacy groups say the language of the revised policy would weaken existing protections for unauthorized immigrants. In some cases, they say, the difference hinges on a single word such as “shall” versus “should.”
Attorney General TJ Donovan, who has a seat on the council, said Thursday that the drafting of the revised policy is an “ongoing process” and differences over wording are still being worked out.
“I think you’ll see multiple drafts from now till Tuesday,” he said. “I think at the end of the day this is going to be a balancing act of being compliant with federal law and at the same time building those protections in.”
He added, “We can say to local law enforcement, ‘Don’t ask about immigration status,’ which, in my opinion, is good public policy.”
Since work began on drafting the revised policy during the summer there have been several “productive” and “respectful” meetings with civilian interests, including the Vermont ACLU and Migrant Justice, Brickell said Thursday.
“We’re still reviewing some of their specific points,” the council chair said. “We’re trying to come up with draft language that works for everybody.”
The groups, in their statement Thursday, urged the council to preserve the existing protections in the policy adopted in 2016.
Migrant Justice and the ACLU say in their statement they continue to receive and investigate reports of abuses resulting from the “entanglement” of Vermont police in immigration enforcement.
Among the cases they cite is one they say stems from a traffic stop over the summer in northern Vermont where sheriff’s deputies detained two unauthorized immigrant farmworkers while waiting for U.S. Border Patrol to arrive.
The groups in the statement say council members have “acknowledged” that the proposed policy changes are “motivated in part by the Trump administration’s threats to withhold Justice Department grants from cities and states that adopt so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies.”
Diaz called on council members to stand up to the Trump administration on this issue.
“To be absolutely clear — we are not asking Vermont to thumb its nose at federal law,” he said. “Regarding the (fair and impartial policing) policy, the Justice Department has no lawful basis to withhold funding from Vermont, especially for policies that ensure the safety of all Vermonters.”
Will Lambek, a Migrant Justice organizer, said Thursday that it was important that existing protections remain in place for unauthorized immigrants in Vermont.
“It’s great to hear that they are still open to changes,” he said. “It’s very important that Vermonters understand the gravity of the issues being debated and the danger that we have of the protections being lost if the current changes being proposed go into effect.”
Gov. Phil Scott, speaking Thursday at his weekly news conference, said he wasn’t aware of the concerns being raised about the proposed policing policy.
“My reaction is that we’ve been working on this issue for quite some time,” Scott said. “I would be surprised if (council members) are caving in to the Trump administration on this issue.”
The governor added he believed the state’s immigration position was on “safe ground” and wasn’t putting Vermont at risk of losing federal funding.
