BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP) - Bennington officials are considering hiring a consultant to help make community policing changes within the police department after a review found the department’s practices have created deep mistrust in parts of the community.
The report by the International Association of Chiefs of Police was presented in April and included 25 recommended changes. Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan recommended the review following criticism of the department’s response to reports of racial harassment of a black state lawmaker.
The report predated the current nationwide push for police reform that followed the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.
Bennington Select Board Chairman Donald Campbell proposed hiring Curtiss Reed, Jr., executive director of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, to help implement changes, the Bennington Banner reported Monday.
Campbell also said he supported retaining both Police Chief Paul Doucette and Town Manager Stuart Hurd, saying both are onboard with the reform process. A Rights and Democracy-Vermont online petition has called for their dismissal.
“Hopefully, we can make these changes together,” Campbell said, adding that the study and follow-up process gives Bennington “an opportunity to create a more responsive, safer, demilitarized community police force.”
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