[U]niversity of Vermont police chief Lianne Tuomey is on a leave of absence for unspecified reasons, UVM spokesperson Enrique Corredera confirmed.
Tuomey has been on leave since July 11. She is still being paid, and Deputy Chief Tim Bilodeau is currently serving in her place.
Corredera specified that Tuomey was not suspended, escorted off the premises or barred from the campus. But he could not, he wrote in an email, say anything about the type or nature of the leave.
The chief’s leave began three days after a team of accreditation assessors came to “examine all aspects of the University Of Vermont Department Of Police Services’ policy and procedures, management, operations, and support services,” according to a UVM police department press release. Corredera said he could not comment on whether the two events were connected.
Tuomey, who has been with the department since 2000, is on leave for an undetermined length of time. In recent years, she has seen the department through trainings on sexual assault investigations and active shooting responses, and dealt with cases where UVM students were threatened or accused of misconduct.
Bilodeau wrote in an email that he hopes to further the department’s reputation as a “trusted police team” during his time as acting chief.
“I intend to continue promoting excellence in everything we do, from our daily commitment to police response and community presence, to preparation and training for critical incident response,” he wrote.
Before her employment at UVM, Tuomey worked for the Burlington Police Department, where Chief of Police Brandon del Pozo recently announced a leave of absence of his own. As with Tuomey, del Pozo and the department have not publicly stated the reason for his absence.
