In an unusual statement issued Tuesday night, the board charged with advising the Vermont State Police sought to correct the record on its position in a high-profile disciplinary matter.
Last week, state police announced the “voluntary resignations” of two troopers who had been accused of using racist, misogynistic and other degrading language in an online party game while off-duty. As VTDigger reported in February, a group of troopers and their significant others had allegedly penned rap verses using the N-word and other slurs targeting Black, Latino and LGBTQ+ people, as well as those with intellectual disabilities.
In announcing the resignations of former troopers Nathan Greco and Nathan Jensen, the agency said that the State Police Advisory Commission had been consulted and “concurs with the determination by Commissioner of Public Safety Jennifer Morrison that misconduct had occurred warranting discipline up to and including termination.”
But in the statement issued Tuesday night, the commission said that it had not signed off on a range of disciplinary outcomes and had, in fact, called for the troopers to be fired.
“While Commissioner of Public Safety Jennifer Morrison had not reached a final decision on discipline before they resigned, the State Police Advisory Commission advised her that the troopers’ actions warranted termination and no lesser form of discipline was appropriate,” the panel wrote.
In an interview Wednesday, Nancy Sheahan, the longtime chair of the commission, said it was atypical for her and her colleagues to make such a public statement. But, she said, “We felt really strongly about this case, and we wanted it out there how we viewed it and what advice we offered.”
The seven-member commission is charged by statute with providing “advice and counsel” to the commissioner of public safety. Though it has no formal powers, it regularly meets with Department of Public Safety leadership to weigh in on the management and supervision of the state police.
After being briefed by Morrison and other officials last Wednesday on the investigation into the troopers, Sheahan said, the commission came to the conclusion that their “racist speech” was “contrary to the mission of the Vermont State Police and detrimental to the proper function of the department.”
“We could not see any way that individuals of color could be confident that these particular troopers could carry out their duties free of any racial bias,” said Sheahan, a partner at the Burlington-based law firm McNeil, Leddy & Sheahan.
Morrison declined to comment Wednesday on the discrepancy between the state police’s statement and that of the advisory commission.
In an interview, she said that the commission “is a highly valued part of how we contemplate accountability and discipline in the Vermont State Police.” But, Morrison said, “Beyond my opportunity to receive their input and advice, there are other pieces of the personnel process that have to be honored, as well.”
What’s most important, Morrison said, is that the agency was able to move on from the matter.
“We achieved the outcome that we hoped for, which was to have these two individuals separate from the organization quickly,” she said.
Sheahan said that, while the commission reached a different conclusion than the commissioner, its members had confidence in the investigation and believed those conducting it had done “an excellent job of finding out everything they could about this situation.”
“So I think the process was playing out the way it should,” she said.
