[B]ennington Town Manager Stuart Hurd says he will hire an outside consultant to review the practices, policies and procedures of the local police force, but added: “This is not an investigation into wrongdoing because we haven’t done anything wrong.”
Hurd released a statement Wednesday saying that he was receptive to a request from Attorney General TJ Donovan that the town hire an independent expert to look into the police department.
That request came after the Vermont branches of the American Civil Liberties Union and NAACP called on Donovan to open an investigation into the handling of evidence related to allegations of threats against former state Rep. Kiah Morris, D-Bennington.
In particular, the organizations want to know why allegations that Max Misch, a white supremacist who harassed Morris online, had illegally possessed high-capacity gun magazines were not brought to the attention of the attorney general’s office when Bennington police investigated the situation in October and determined no crimes had been committed.
“I can say that this task was offered to the Attorney General within the last few days,” Hurd wrote, referring to the calls for Donovan to investigate himself. “He declined. Therefore, we are seeking information and assistance to understand who and what is required for this effort.”
Hurd said in a telephone interview Wednesday that he understood why Donovan did not want to get involved in the review himself, as he has to interact with police forces across the state in his role as the state’s top law enforcement officer.
Donovan said in an emailed statement Wednesday that he spoke with Hurd in the morning and received his commitment to hire an independent law enforcement expert to conduct the review.
“This is good news,” the attorney general said. “Maintaining public trust and public safety are the top priorities for law enforcement and bringing in an outside expert is a step in the right direction.”
James Lyall, director of the Vermont-ACLU, said it was possible that the review would help the situation, but that he thought that Donovan or another state agency should be able to step in and bring public accountability.
“I think generally the entity being investigated usually ought not to be the one that is arranging for and coordinating the investigation,” he said.
“I think the people of Bennington might have some reasons to be concerned that the investigation itself might not be enough to get to the bottom of what’s going on here,” he added.
Hurd said that he was acting on the request of the attorney general, adding, “I can’t speak to perceptions or feelings of the ACLU or NAACP — that’s not my calling nor my desire.”
In both his statement and in the interview, Hurd dismissed the claims that Bennington police had done anything wrong in relation to the Morris and Misch investigations.
“The recent allegations leveled by the NAACP/ACLU are without basis,” he wrote in the statement. “The information available to the Town and referred to as ‘relevant evidence’ was equally available to the State Police and to the Attorney General through the same investigatory resources. It was not withheld.”
That appears to contradict what Donovan has said about the reports of Misch owning illegal magazines, which were made while the attorney general was leading an investigation into allegations of racist threats against Morris, who the state’s only black female lawmaker before deciding to step out of politics las year.
Hurd said that “investigatory resources” referred to a statewide database in which law enforcement officers can see what investigations were conducted, even if they don’t lead to criminal charges.
Donovan’s statement did not specifically address the issue of failing to report evidence, but he has said it should have been reported to his office.
Lyall of the ACLU dismissed Hurd’s explanation. “That’s not a very convincing argument at least to me but I’m not an investigator. It’s pretty important and relevant evidence in a high-level investigation and their saying you should have looked it up yourself?”
The civil rights organizations said the review is necessary in part to restore public trust in the Bennington police, and to make sure that all people can feel safe in the county.
Hurd said he didn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t feel safe, including Morris and her family, who have described having swastikas painted on trees near their house, having their house broken into, and being continually targeted with racist hate online. No charges have been brought in relation to any of those complaints.
“The local police department here went far above and beyond to protect Ms. Morris and her family, far beyond what we would normally do just because of their perception of the threats,” Hurd said. “So people in Bennington should feel safe. I don’t understand any statement that suddenly people in Bennington shouldn’t feel safe.”
The town manager said he was working with others to determine how much such a review would cost and which outside firms might be best positioned to do it.
“I would hope that by bringing in someone to take a hard look at the way we do business and point out if there are discrepancies and things we could do better point that out to us,” he said. “We’ll release all of that information to the public. If that’s insufficient to solve people’s fears then I really can’t speak to that.”