Following the recent resignation of Northfield’s police chief, the town was looking to neighboring Berlin to provide police service in the interim. But Berlin Police Chief James Pontbriand said this week he has no intention of filling the gap without some compensation.
Given how “murky” things are at the Northfield Police Department, “we really don’t want to be a part of that ongoing drama at all,” Pontbriand said at Monday’s selectboard meeting, referring to the town’s struggles maintaining police staff.
Pontbriand, who has served as Berlin’s police chief for more than five years, told VTDigger on Wednesday that Vermont can be a difficult place for out-of-state officers.
The certification process can be “challenging,” and there is no onboarding process for new chiefs who come from other states, he said. Northfield Police Chief Pierre Gomez faced “a lot of challenges” from the get go, he said.
Gomez, 58, resigned at the end of October. He was hired in September 2023 in the Washington County town after former chief John Helfant retired amid controversy.
One of three police chiefs of color in Vermont, Gomez reported facing racial harassment since he moved to town two years ago from Pennsylvania. He further alleged the town, particularly the town manager, did not adequately respond to support him nor deal with the people casting doubt on his work.
Gomez, a Black Latino man, submitted a letter of complaint to the town on April 16. In June, the town paid a private firm $17,000, authorizing a third-party investigation to evaluate ethics violations, according to Northfield Selectboard Chair Charlie Morse. No action has been taken, and none of the findings have been made public. “Ethics complaints are confidential,” Morse said at the time.
Further, the board voted unanimously on Sept. 9 to instruct Town Manager Jeff Schulz and Gomez to meet weekly. Morse said the board “discovered a departure of policy” and felt a standing meeting would help “an overall continuous improvement process in performance management for both leaders.”
In response to VTDigger public records requests, Michael Leddy of McNeil, Leddy & Sheahan claimed in a Sept. 23 letter that documents pertaining to the letter and the investigations are “completely exempt” from being shared, citing several exemptions under state law. The Burlington law firm serves as legal counsel to the town, according to Leddy.
‘A lot of challenges’
When Gomez resigned in September, Pontbriand said they had “spoken frequently” about the problems Gomez faced in town and he was sorry to see him go.
“The Northfield Police Department has been struggling for years and the Chief certainly had an uphill battle from the start,” he wrote in an email to VTDigger last month.
“I think there were a lot of challenges already in place facing him as far as personnel goes and just some of the politics of the town,” Pontbriand said Wednesday. “I don’t want to speak negatively of the governance, but he did share a lot of his frustration trying to make things happen there.”
Pontbriand, who developed a friendship with Gomez, said he found him “knowledgeable and capable, certainly very vocal about the things that he needed.”
Pontbriand also said he is frustrated at the way things are playing out regarding the police assistance Berlin provides, as discussed by the selectboard this week, particularly the lack of communication from Northfield.
“I originally approached the town manager down there, probably at the time that Pierre gave his notice, to propose that, Hey, we’re not going to continue to do this for free,” he said.
An unsigned draft of the Northfield-Berlin intermunicipal police agreement was on Monday’s selectboard meeting agenda. But Pontbriand said he was never contacted by Northfield officials and was concerned “people were under the impression that we were going to take over police services.”
“I myself didn’t see this document until the other night, which caused some confusion within my own agency that we’re completely taking over police services, which we are not,” he said at the meeting, adding that the Berlin selectboard had not seen the memo either.
“There is no signed police coverage agreement and there has never been,” Pontbriand said Wednesday.
Police staffing issues
In the past, Berlin police responded as a courtesy when Vermont State Police were unavailable to provide backup to Northfield. State Police has faced severe staffing shortages in recent years, curtailing its ability to assist local police departments. State Police were not immediately available for comment.
The Washington County town of Northfield, with a population of about 6,000, has a small five-person police department that includes three officers (two are on leave), a dispatcher and a chief. It has an estimated annual budget of a little over $1 million, according to Gomez.
About 14 miles north, Berlin has a larger police force consisting of a chief and nine officers serving a population of about 2,500 and a commercial corridor, according to Pontbriand, who said Monday he expects Northfield will lean more heavily on Berlin for police response in the absence of a police chief.
“I wanted to make sure that we receive some benefit for applying the service,” he said at Monday’s meeting. “We would only come if State Police are not available. I just want to make that clear. So we’d be the third in line: Northfield, State Police, and then us if no one else is available.”
Pontbriand estimated Berlin police respond to Northfield calls about twice a month. After Gomez’s departure, for example, a Berlin police officer responded to an early morning fire that involved a person trapped inside the residence and a person with a weapon threatening first responders outside, Pontbriand said, resulting in three hours of overtime. But Berlin has never received compensation for police coverage in the past.
“We’d be willing to assist … on a case by case basis,” Pontbriand said. “There will be a cost associated with that, but I don’t expect it to be a frequent thing.”
Northfield’s only full time officer — Sgt. Brian Gosselin — is limited in scope on what he can respond to. Gosselin, a Level 2 certified officer, cannot investigate felonies or conduct death investigations, according to Pontbriand.
Certified Level 2 officers have a minimum of 30 hours of training per year, while certified Level 3 officers have more intensive training, per state requirements. Gomez was certified Level 3.
Northfield residents have voiced concerns at recent meetings about inadequate police coverage given the department’s current staffing woes, particularly since Gomez left. Gosselin said Monday he has a backlog of cases and needs help.
Pontbriand said the town needs to install “an experienced law enforcement officer” to supervise the police department in the interim. While Gosselin is “very capable,” Pontbriand said he is limited by state statutes.
Gomez, who virtually attended Monday’s meeting, said Gosselin has the training to be a good interim until the town can hire a new police chief, and suggested that the town listen and support him. Gomez said he discussed the police coverage agreement a month ago and asked the town manager for answers.
The selectboard discussed potentially formalizing the service Berlin provides and providing some compensation to the neighboring police department, as suggested by the chief. Gosselin suggested paying Berlin for the felony-type cases he cannot cover.
“They have a lot of questions, which is fine and understandable,” Pontbriand said.
The board also discussed advertising the police chief position. Gosselin recommended reaching out to veteran officers with good experience, good reputation and clean records who are interested in leadership positions and building up a police department.
Schulz, the Northfield town manager who is set to retire next year, did not respond this week to queries about the process and timeline for filling the vacant police chief spot, nor whether the town has received any applications or letters of interest.
“I do not know if the manager has received letters of interest from any one,” Morse said in an email Tuesday.
However, Morse confirmed former police chief Helfant, who earlier this year surrendered his law enforcement certification, has recommended the town hire Norwich Police Chief Matthew Romei, who was formerly the Capitol Police chief.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the budget and staffing of the Northfield Police Department.
