The national debate over defunding police departments is occurring in Montpelier at the same time the department is undergoing a leadership transition.
Nearly 20 community members called in to Wednesday’s City Council meeting to support defunding, or in some cases, outright abolition, of the police force.
The calls for reform come against a backdrop of national and local outrage over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and three days after 5,000 people gathered in Montpelier to protest police brutality.
Meanwhile, Montpelier Police Chief Tony Facos is in the process of stepping down after 35 years.
Brian Peete is slated to take over July 1 and is also believed to be the first black police chief in Vermont history.
After nearly an hour and a half discussion between concerned community members, city councilors, the mayor and both the incoming and outgoing police chiefs, each camp remained divided.
The City Council agreed to continue looking at the issue but didn’t settle on any decisive action, electing to wait until Peete takes over.
Meanwhile, both Facos and Peete said in interviews they want to hear from community members; they also said Montpelier Police shouldn’t be lumped in with other departments where problems have occurred.
“While I understand people are disappointed with how some police agencies across the nation have conducted themselves or what our professional culture is as a whole, we have to concentrate on fixing the institution,” Peete said. “Because it’s a necessary profession, it’s needed, it does a lot of good.”
Montpelier resident Stephanie Gomory, who organized the citizen effort, said she does not have a lot of faith in the department even though a new police chief of color is taking the helm.
“I do not have hope only because the police at root is a racist and white supremacist institution,” Gomory said. “When we call for abolishing the police, we’re calling for abolishing that institution and implementing new institutions of emergency response and conflict resolution.”
Facos said he realizes the conversation in Montpelier is part of the national conversation and there may be no specific changes that need to be made just yet. But either way, he wants to listen and learn, he said.
Facos also said that inside the department, officers are feeling the weight and impact of statements from both national and local conversations.
“When they get and hear the messaging of disbanding the police or defunding, it’s discouraging and demoralizing,” Facos said. “Because are we being judged by the criminal conduct of officers from other jurisdictions?”
Alison Byrnes, an East Montpelier resident and soon to be U-32 high school teacher, said school resource officers should be removed immediately.
“There is no place for police officers in schools,” Byrnes said. “Looking back now, I have been complicit in this. I have sat in countless meetings with kids who have truancy issues or drug issues, and we’ve had an armed police officer in those meetings and that is completely inappropriate.”
Prior to the meeting, Mayor Anne Watson said she’s glad a conversation is being sparked and that there are improvements the police department can make. She said calls for defunding the police can mean different things.
“When I hear defund police, I hear the community’s priority on community services really and they value really being proactive rather than reactive,” she said. “It makes me think about how we have been working toward putting this emphasis on community services and one of the ways we’ve done this is we recently hired a social worker into the department.”
Councilors said the conversation had only begun.
“I think the reason we’re able to have a conversation like this is because the chief has been so open to feedback,” Casey said. “I think all of us are having individual conversations with activists in the community. … I think we need some time to process this.”
City Manager Bill Fraser praised the force.
“I’m going to say our police department has been excellent, not perfect, but excellent,” Fraser said. “We don’t have a huge outcry here on City Council about police concerns. Nobody said anything bad about our police department tonight, but I don’t want anyone to leave here thinking that we have such huge problems with the police they need a drastic change.”
Watson encouraged citizens to stay engaged.
“I do think there is always room for improvement,” Watson said at the meeting. “In order for us to do this well, it’s going to take us some time.”
The council said it will be creating an event for the community to come together to support the Black Lives Matter movement.
