Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Schirling had placed Lucas Hall, a trooper out of the Shaftsbury barracks, on unpaid leave last Thursday after the posts came to light.
"I just got a text message that Sgt. Hall resigned from the Vermont State Police," Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington) told fellow senators.
"Good," Sen. Jeanette White (D-Windham) replied.
“The time has come… Let’s gooooo!!!”
Someone replied to his post by writing, “there are going to be riots,” beside a sad-face emoji.
“It might be war…” Hall responded. “We are beginning to see good, law-abiding citizens stand against a corrupted Government.”
✖By Tuesday night, before the investigation was completed, Hall resigned.
"His unconditional resignation was immediately accepted," Schirling said in a statement. "The details of the investigation will be forwarded to the Vermont Criminal Justice Council pursuant to Act 56 for consideration of sanctions, including decertification."
Derek Brouwer contributed reporting.
Tags: Lucas Hall , Vermont State Police , U.S. Capitol , resignation , Web Only , Image
Friday, January 8, 2021
The Vermont Department of Health reported 226 cases on Thursday and 202 on Friday. The numbers have pushed the state to record-high weekly case growth, though the figures continue to compare well with those in other states. Twenty-nine people are currently hospitalized with the disease.
Tags: coronavirus , COVID-19 , Vermont , outbreak , holidays , Web Only , Image
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Lucas Hall, assigned to the Shaftsbury barracks, allegedly posted the incendiary comments Wednesday from a personal account while off duty, according to Schirling. Hall was hired by the state police in July 2012.
“These actions, if true, have caused pain and anguish on the part of Vermonters during an already indescribably stressful time in our national history and for that we are saddened and sorry,” the commissioner said in his statement.
Screenshots of the posts, obtained and first reported by VTDigger.org, show that a Luke Hall posted on Facebook, “God Bless America!!!!
“Cheers to the great Patriots in Washington D.C.,” he continued. “The time has come… Let’s gooooo!!!”
Someone replied to his post by writing, “there are going to be riots,” beside a sad-face emoji.
“It might be war…” Hall responded. “We are beginning to see good, law-abiding citizens stand against a corrupted Government.”
Tags: Lucas Hall , law enforcement , police , Washington , D.C. , U.S. Capitol , Donald Trump , Web Only , Image
The Vermont Department of Health confirmed the change Thursday. It was finalized on Monday, a spokesperson said.
The tweak reclassifies police and fire personnel as "emergency medical services," which are part of the so-called "1a" priority phase that is currently underway. Ambulance and rescue squads were already in that group, along with health care workers and residents of long-term care homes.
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Cpl. Tyler Badeau, president of the Burlington Police Officers’ Association, said he signed up to speak during Monday night’s council meeting, before councilors failed to overturn a mayoral veto of a proposal to bolster citizen oversight of police.
He had intended to read a statement from the union in support of Mayor Miro Weinberger’s veto of the Progressive-backed plan, which sought to create a new “community control board” to investigate and discipline cops for misconduct. Despite signing up five hours before the meeting started, Badeau said that Tracy never called on him.
"If [Progressive councilors] were truly interested in governing correctly, they would allow equal time during the public forum for all voices, and they're not," Badeau said. "Max isn’t interested in governing. He’s interested in his agenda."
Tags: Burlington Police , public forum , Max Tracy , Burlington City Council , Web Only , Image
Friday, January 1, 2021
The proposal sought to form an "independent community control board" with the authority to investigate and discipline cops for misconduct. The council passed the resolution on a 7-5 vote on December 14, intending to send the charter change to the Town Meeting Day ballot in March.
Instead, Weinberger kicked the measure back to the council without his approval. In a three-page memo issued on New Year's Eve, the mayor wrote that the proposal would dismantle the city's police department and "compromise the City’s ability to ensure public safety."
"I veto the Charter Change with great reluctance, because I agree that the current charter is problematic and there is urgency to amend it," Weinberger wrote. "If we cannot find consensus now and my veto is sustained, we must find other ways to make near term progress on the issue of police discipline."
Tags: Burlington , Mayor Miro Weinberger , veto , police oversight , Burlington Police Department , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
A law firm hired to investigate Vermont's only prison for women documented an alarming number of allegations of sexual misconduct against inmates and employees of the facility, according to a report issued Wednesday.
"While even a single instance is intolerable, this misconduct occurred to a disturbing degree," investigators concluded.
The state hired the firm, Downs Rachlin Martin, in December 2019 after Seven Days published a series of stories describing allegations of sexual misconduct, drug use and retaliation at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington.
The report documents many of the allegations first uncovered by Seven Days. At a press conference Wednesday morning, Downs Rachlin Martin director Tristram Coffin said that, after a year of review, his team had concluded that those allegations “were largely accurate and needed to be addressed” by the state’s Department of Corrections.
“The prevalence of sexual assault, harassment and misconduct was surprisingly and alarmingly high at CRCF,” said Coffin, a former U.S. attorney.
Tags: Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility , Vermont Department of Corrections , Downs Rachlin Martin , Tristram Coffin , allegations , sexual misconducrt , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Officials had previously refused to say whether ransomware was used, citing guidance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. But the FBI recently gave the hospital permission to describe some aspects of the attack, said Dr. Doug Gentile, the medical center's chief medical information officer.
"What I can tell you is this was in the class of ransomware attacks," Gentile told reporters on a Zoom call. "We did not get a phone call. We did not get a letter. But we did have a file deposited [on our system] that gave instructions on how to contact the attackers."
That file provided a web address and instructed the hospital to contact the perpetrators if it wished to free its system, according to Gentile, who said he could not be sure of the motivation behind the attacks because the hospital ultimately never made contact — nor did it receive any ransom request.
"But we assume they were asking for money," Gentile said.
Tags: Cyberattack , UVM Medical Center , Ransomware , Web Only , Image
Monday, December 21, 2020
Michael Dupont was found unconscious in his cell with a bedsheet wrapped around his neck shortly after 3 p.m. Staff tried unsuccessfully to revive him before he was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Barre City man had been arraigned December 17 on several charges including burglary, according to the Washington County State’s Attorney’s Office. Since then, he’d been kept in isolation at Northeast as required by the Department of Corrections’ COVID-19 protocols, interim Corrections Commissioner Jim Baker told reporters on Monday.
Each incoming inmate is tested for the virus multiple times and is quarantined for 14 days before joining the general population, Baker said. Staff are required to look in on isolated inmates every 30 minutes, he added.
“Leading up to the incident last night, we believe he had been checked on according to protocol,” he said.
Tags: Vermont Department of Corrections , Michael Dupont , suicide , prison , Web Only , Image
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan announced the settlement with Big Brother Security Programs owner Shelley Palmer on Monday. Palmer was accused of selling surgical masks at an exorbitant markup in March, when personal protective equipment was difficult for health care providers to procure.
As part of the deal, Palmer also dropped off 10,000 KN95 masks to the Vermont Department of Public Safety for distribution to schools, health care organizations and other eligible groups.
The "face value" of the goods is approximately $80,000, said Christopher Curtis, the AG's public protection division chief. The office had accused Palmer of reaping roughly $100,000 profit on his earlier sales to the hospital.
Tags: Shelley Palmer , Big Brother Security Programs , T.J. Donovan , price gouging , PPE , personal protective equipment , Central Vermont Medical Center , Web Only , Image