Brian Searles: Time to retry consolidating Chittenden County’s police entities

This commentary was written by Brian Searles, a retired former police chief in South Burlington and current member of the Vermont Criminal Justice Council.

Recently, Vermont Public reported on efforts to better coordinate and divide responsibilities by Vermont’s state law enforcement agencies, which should result in efficiencies such as less duplication. This is being done, at least in part, in response to staffing shortages and is commendable no matter what the reason. 

Since policing entities at all levels in Vermont are finding it more and more difficult to find potential officers, perhaps it’s time to have a conversation about how we can do better at the local level. For me, a great conversation starter is embodied in an idea that goes back more than 50 years, promoted by then-Chittenden County State’s Attorney Patrick Leahy. Yes, that Patrick Leahy.

The idea was to combine the local police entities in Chittenden County to form what was referred to at the time as a “Metropolitan Police Department.” Leahy, who is now wrapping up a long run as U.S. senator from Vermont, was successful in convincing the county planning commission, assisted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), to study the idea in some detail, producing an 81-page report in the summer of 1970 that concluded a regional approach would result in a more effective and efficient policing effort. But it didn’t happen.

There are several reasons for the failure to implement the recommendations, but three of the most prominent ones were recalcitrant police chiefs, local control advocates and the lack of a supporting county government structure. Those resistors to change don’t seem as strong now as they once were. 

Professional police chiefs today are mainly focused on delivering the highest quality of services and other local leaders have led successful development of regional entities to deal with systems as diverse as public water, public schools and public transit. 

In 1970, the IACP study found that fragmentation and duplication of effort could be eliminated with a county-wide approach that would result in improvements in administration, field operations, investigative services and training. The highly successful regionalization of child abuse and sexual assault investigations with the launch of the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations (CUSI) in the 1990s demonstrated the tremendous potential of combining resources.  

Two recent phenomena have added strength to the case for a regional approach in Chittenden County: the previously discussed recruitment and retention problems and the spike in shooting incidents in Burlington. If you hear someone refer to “downtown” in Chittenden County, chances are they’re talking about Burlington and when the bars close at 2 a.m., for example, it is likely that county policing resources are misplaced because officers are in the outlying towns and cities and not where most needed. 

You might be tempted to conclude that this is just a Burlington problem, but residents from all over the region seek work, dining and entertainment options in the Queen City. In addition to the flexibility of resource deployment, the recruiting and retention obstacles would be fewer due to greater career development potential in a larger organization.

Given that police departments, particularly Burlington P. D., are significantly understaffed, it would seem the right time to convene a renewed dialogue about what organizational alternatives are available to make us all safer. I believe we should dust off Sen. Leahy’s idea from five decades ago because it was needed then and even more needed now.