WOODSTOCK — Ryan Palmer, the new Windsor County sheriff, is noticeably thrilled with his new job.
“People want to hear, ‘jeez, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be,’” Palmer said, sitting inside his new office on a gray late April day. But that couldn’t be further from his experience. “It’s been phenomenal. I couldn’t ask for a better team — and I’m not just blowing smoke.”
Across from Palmer, who’s been on the job for about three months, an elaborate whiteboard to-do list loomed, its boxes mostly unchecked. Beneath headers like community policing, training and internal operations, tasks written in shorthand accumulated, grand plans for the days to come. Various cords, body armor, paperwork, and a handgun lay strewn about a table. Decoration was clearly still in progress, but already, the place had the new sheriff’s touch.
In November, Palmer defeated the Republican incumbent, Michael Chamberlain, who’d held the role since 1998. Along with seven other new sheriffs across Vermont’s 14 counties, Palmer was sworn in on Feb. 1.
Already, the 36-year-old former Ludlow police officer who grew up in Windsor and serves on its selectboard has reworked his department’s aesthetics.
“I’m incredibly proud of — it sounds silly — but the paint,” he said, gesturing toward the fresh not-quite-white coat on the walls.
New lights have spiffed up the office, too. A fleet of five newly purchased Chevy Tahoes sit in the parking lot, awaiting outfitting. A new badge — blue and gray with a map of the county and a drawing of the Old Constitution House in Windsor — adorns the department’s branding.
Palmer’s changes are more than decorative. Officers now wear body cameras, and each cruiser is outfitted with a dash cam of its own. Staff well-being is also a priority, the sheriff said. The department recently finalized a contract with a psychiatrist to provide mental health counseling for county law enforcement.
Palmer credited Chamberlain for creating a financially strong department, allowing the purchase of new infrastructure. The new sheriff is also taking an aggressive approach toward finding more work for the department, adding nine new people in order to take on additional contracts, he said.
For the average resident of Windsor County, perhaps the biggest change is the department’s policing philosophy. In a department typically associated with traffic laws, Palmer said he’s telling his officers to “be a part of your community,” pulling back on the “zealous enforcement of speeding” previously seen in the area.
Historically, Windsor County towns like Bridgewater have been some of the sheriff’s largest contracts — and one of the state’s most notorious speed traps. A 2018 Vermont Public Radio investigation found that more tickets had been issued in Bridgewater than in any other town in the state.
Palmer ran on the slogan “end policing for profit,” which he said referred to generating revenue through traffic tickets. It did not, he specified, refer to the bonus of up to 5% of all contracts the sheriff is entitled to pocket.
“I take it,” he said of the 5% bonus. “It’s part of our compensation.”
The new role has brought personal changes for Palmer, too, not just his department. He’s working longer hours, coming in on weekends and sometimes working late night contracts, he said.
He stepped down as chair of the selectboard in Windsor, though he has maintained his seat on the board.
Paul Woodman, who serves alongside Pamer on the selectboard, praised the new sheriff’s ability to listen to opposing ideas.
“He’s very open to hear another side,” Woodman said. “He’s probably the easiest person I’ve ever had to communicate with.”
The two board members have had their share of public disagreements, some garnering significant attention — and frustration — from local residents.
Woodman pointed to the selectboard’s spat last fall over whether to allow the planting of an LGBTQ+ “pride tree” with the town’s support. Opponents, Woodman among them, argued that the tulip tree would show favoritism for one group over another. Palmer supported the tree.
“Instead of having an argument, we really went back and forth,” Woodman recalled of how he handled the situation with Palmer. “We really didn’t agree, but we respected each other’s points.”
Palmer formerly worked as a police officer in Windsor. In 2014, while working for the town’s department, he came under scrutiny for a plainclothes drug sting during which he shot and wounded a suspect in the arm.
Palmer, who has called the trial a “political prosecution,” said the man had almost run him over, but prosecutors alleged video evidence proved otherwise. A jury exonerated him in 2017. In an interview before he was elected, he said the experience has prompted him to treat people with more empathy and respect.
When Woodman originally ran for selectboard against Palmer in 2021, he encountered a vocal constituency with negative opinions of Palmer, including linked to the shooting, but also a significant number of fans — evident, Woodman said, by Palmer’s victory.
Woodman also said he thinks Palmer has worked to build trust in Windsor, and praised the new sheriff for coming back to his hometown and running for selectboard.
“That takes some guts,” he said. “A lot of people would say ‘no way I’m going back there.’ That takes a lot of perseverance.”
Now, as sheriff, Palmer is working in a more administrative role, though he said he still relishes the opportunity to work cases.
Vermont’s sheriffs are obligated to handle specific duties designated by the state, such as serving eviction papers and transporting prisoners and people with mental illnesses.
The state’s meager county-level budgets allocate some money to sheriff’s departments — about $230,000 in Windsor County, according to Palmer — and state funding supports the sheriffs’ salaries and those of a couple of dozen deputies split among the counties.
As of July 2023, sheriffs in all of Vermont’s counties except Chittenden will receive an almost $98,000 salary from the state.
A majority of sheriff’s department funding comes from contracts with towns, construction companies, courthouses and other institutions that require a law enforcement presence.
Currently, the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department has nine town policing contracts. The county has 24 communities.
A narrow Town Meeting Day vote prevented Stockbridge from contracting with the sheriff, and Hartland’s struggles contracting with Vermont State Police has Palmer hopeful his department could add another municipality.
“We’re looking to fill the void that state police have left,” he said. He wants to create a regional model, assigning certain deputies to specific neighboring towns across the county’s almost 1,000 square miles.
It’s unclear whether that will pan out. The Valley News recently reported “mixed reception” to the idea among town selectboards in the county.
“We’re kind of torn in the middle,” Bridgewater selectboard chair Bill Young told the newspaper. “Some people really like the idea of more police presence in town; others really don’t see the need short of traffic control. And then there’s the price tag. You get a lot of pushback on that.”
When VTDigger spoke to Palmer, he’d worked a security contract at the state’s psychiatric care hospital in Berlin the night before. He also hopes his department can secure more regular work with the Department for Children and Families, helping provide services for people in the department’s custody.
To achieve his vision for rural policing, Palmer hopes to significantly upgrade the department’s radio system with four repeater sites that will enable reliable communication across the county’s mountainous terrain. He expects a roughly $1.25 million price tag — a significant lift for a department of 22 staff members that held just over $1 million in contracts last year, according to Palmer.
Thomas Battista, a lieutenant and 20-year veteran of the department who ran against Palmer in the Democratic primary last summer, handles the department’s day-to-day financial needs, as well as much of the grant writing that provides supplemental funding.
“We’ve been very busy,” Battista said. He’s brought Palmer up to speed on the office’s finances and worked to clean up the books following the leadership transition. As the department moves toward providing a broader spectrum of “policing services,” Battista has worked through the financing of the new and needed gear, he said.
He’ll also need to figure out how the department can fund its radio build-out — perhaps through grants, or through congressional money, which the department has pursued through the office of U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt.
Despite the new responsibilities under Palmer’s leadership, Battista said staff members are enjoying coming to work. The day before, staff members had participated in a training simulating a traffic stop gone wrong, using paintballs and junk cars to enhance the experience. Palmer also created more opportunities for mentorship, and the department has five new deputies hoping to receive law enforcement certification in the next few months, according to Palmer.
The changes suggest Windsor County’s regional police department is moving in a new direction.
“Morale is off the charts,” Battista said. “It’s great.”