Barre City has established a citizen board to review police complaints, but officials are divided on how powerful the committee will be.
The move comes at a time that many Vermont communities are discussing police reform, including budget reductions to police departments and efforts to “abolish” the police.
Barre City Councilor Teddy Waszazak, who sponsored the measure, said the intent was to create a way to investigate complaints against the department and review policies.
However, after more than an hour of discussion between councilors, citizens and Police Chief Tim Bombardier, a scaled-down version was passed unanimously.
The revised version of the proposal limits the new oversight committee and tacked on the word “advisory” to it as well. According to Mayor Lucas Herring, the city charter and police union contract specifies who can conduct investigations and take action.
“The one distinction was that investigations are not something that a committee can do,” he said. “Just like any other cities, municipalities still have the authority to act so the committee would make recommendations to the City Council on actions.”
The final product that passed would create a seven-member board made up of one city council member, the police chief and five people with “significant” ties to Barre City, so they could be property owners or residents.
Waszazak said it was frustrating that his proposal was stripped down, but not unexpected. Despite the more modest authority, Waszazak said he intends to be the City Council representative and advocate for measures to give the board more teeth.
“I think that this conversation that we had on Tuesday was the beginning of what is going to have to be a years-long conversation about how we approach public safety. I would love to amend the charter, to give this board actual power,” he said. “That is a long process. We have done that process and we can do those processes, but something we can do now is have this board review the policies and bring them up.”
The policies Waszazak referred to are the internal policies and procedures that govern the Barre City Police Department. Waszazak said currently those policies are not available online and he had to use his authority as a City Councilor to even request a copy of them.
“The hope is that our police departments are doing the right thing, that they are following the policies,” Waszazak said. “But until those policies are transparent and available to the public, it’s hard to have that conversation.”
For now, the board has the general power to request these internal policies like any other citizen and to field complaints about the Police Department, but they are not a judicial body, therefore there’s no subpoena power, he said. The limit is the depth of the investigation and the power the board has to enforce its findings and recommendations.
Ultimately the board has the power to “offer recommendations,” Waszazak said.
The power of citizen review
Currently, the board’s scope and details about how it will operate are scant.
The version of Waszazak’s proposal that passed simply established the new board and gave it some general parameters, but once the board members are selected they will work together to create more specific guidance on what exactly they will be doing, Waszazak said.
For now they will take in complaints and issue a “recommendation” to the police chief, city council and city manager, Waszazak said.
Mayor Herring said he has not heard many complaints about the police department but hopes this new body will encourage people to come forward if they have concerns.
“Honestly, I haven’t heard much for complaints about the police department in the city of Barre. I know that Vermont is a little different than what we’ve seen nationally,” he said. “And if there are complaints, that’s the thing, you know, are people afraid of coming forward? And if that’s the case, the desired result is that we have people able to come forward with those complaints will feel safe to do so. And I think that’s what’s needed.”
City Councilor John Steinman said he sees no harm in having a civilian layer of review but doesn’t feel there is a need for reforms.
Because of the City’s charter, Steinman said, the new committee is purely advisory in nature and would have to make suggestions through the City Council which would pass the info to the City Manager and then back to the Police Chief, who is already slated to be on the new committee.
“The name thing was just a semantic issue,” Steinman said. “Does it really matter? No, except in reality they don’t have oversight. They’re advisory in nature.”
Wazazak disagreed.
“It is not a toothless committee. This will be the first time in Barre’s modern history that the police department policies will be in public view,” Wazazak said. “And to me, that is not advice, that is oversight, having a board get those policies into the public view, that’s a form of oversight.”
Despite the fact Wazazak’s initial proposal was scaled back, he said the creation of a committee at all is still a step in the right direction.
“Making progress is hard. Would I have loved to walk into the city council meeting and have both of my proposals as written pass seven to zero? Yes,” he said. “Was I expecting that? No. So I am frustrated that its 2020 and we’re talking about racial justice. I’m frustrated that it’s 2020 and we’re talking about demilitarizing the police. I’m frustrated that we’re dealing with issues that should have been resolved in the 1960s or the 1860s for that matter.”
The City Council is hoping to review and appoint prospective members at their next meeting on July 14, Mayor Herring said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number and makeup of the oversight board.
