[R]ep. Nader Hashim’s groundbreaking journey as Vermont’s first active state trooper serving in the Legislature has come to an end.
The Democrat from Dummerston said he handed in his notice to Vermont State Police this week, after seven years of service. His resignation was first reported by the Brattleboro Reformer.
Hashim said in an interview Wednesday that the problem was largely geographic.
To avoid policing his legislative constituents, Hashim asked to be transferred from the Westminster barracks to the Royalton barracks, which is about an hour and 20 minutes away from his home. But living so far outside his police coverage area would have required a residency waiver, which VSP declined to give him.
“Maybe I’m optimistic, but I don’t think it has to do with my policy positions,” Hashim said. “I think it’s just that they don’t want to give me a residency waiver and, no pun intended, they won’t waver on that.”
Hashim was in the unique position of questioning his boss, Public Safety Commissioner Tom Anderson, during hearings this year on roadside saliva testing for marijuana. (Anderson supported the testing; Hashim opposed it).
The trooper has also been an outspoken advocate for criminal justice reform during his brief time on the House Judiciary Committee.
Hashim said he considered fighting the decision by higher-ups to reject his waiver application — noting that some troopers receive such waivers after disciplinary action or promotions — but decided to focus on being an “adequate” first-year legislator instead.
And his 9-year-old daughter has been lobbying him to reconsider his career. “Priority No. 1 is my daughter,” he said, “and she’s at the age now where she knows why I carry a gun to work and she wants me in a line of work that is not dangerous.”
VSP spokesperson Adam Silverman told the Brattleboro Reformer that the residency requirement was important because troopers must be prepared to jump into action anytime, and attempting to respond to calls in a timely manner from far away posed a public safety risk.
“The Vermont State Police is willing to work with our members when possible to balance their desire to serve in the Legislature with the needs and requirements of the department,” Silverman told the Reformer.
When the Legislature wraps up this session, Hashim plans to start reading the law at Costello, Valente and Gentry, a Brattleboro law firm. He said it would be a four-year process of working shadowing an attorney and studying the law before he could become a lawyer himself.
Hashim said he’s interested in pursuing criminal or constitutional law. And he intends to continue serving in the Legislature.
“This is the best job I’ve ever had in my life,” he said of being a lawmaker. “It’s in the same line of protecting and serving — obviously it’s quite different — but to stand up here and be entrusted by thousands of people to adequately represent their political and philosophical views is a huge responsibility and a huge honor.”
