BRATTLEBORO — After two months of discord, local leaders and social justice advocates have agreed to form a citizens committee to examine community safety in the era of Black Lives Matter.
“This is a study that is tailor-made by Brattleboro for Brattleboro,” selectboard member Elizabeth McLoughlin said Tuesday before she and her four colleagues voted unanimously for the proposal. “How does Brattleboro measure up as a police force to our values?”
This southeastern Vermont hub has spent two months debating ways to review its police department that are fair to both people who believe it should be defunded and others who want protection in a town where opioid-overdose deaths top state tallies and racial justice events have drawn verbally abusive opponents now facing charges of hate-motivated disorderly conduct.
Under the plan, the town will seek citizens who will be paid to serve on the committee, giving priority to marginalized people such as those who are indigenous, of color, LGBTQ, facing addiction, with physical or psychiatric challenges, poor or homeless, or survivors of domestic assault.
Local leaders will also advertise for a professional facilitator to help the committee conduct “a focused examination” of the use of town resources for police as well as social service and nonprofit organizations “to ensure equitable and optimal community health, wellness and safety.”
The committee will make initial recommendations by Dec. 31 for consideration as the town drafts its budget for the next fiscal year.
The selectboard and representatives of several local social justice groups, having wrestled over wording during two five-hour sessions this summer, fine-tuned the proposal Tuesday night during a three-hour online meeting that drew 60 people.
“We’re not at this point asking for edits because we want to keep having long meetings,” advocate Alex Fischer said near the close of debate. “This is our last moment to put in our voice.”
The groups, wanting safety for people to speak out, pushed to exclude police from serving on the committee, and wanted to ensure testimony can be received “anonymously, without fear of retribution.”
The selectboard will seek applications from interested citizens and potential facilitators until Sept. 8 in hopes of launching the study next month.
“Time is of the essence,” Town Manager Peter Elwell said. “The committee’s only going to have about three months to do a very substantial piece of work, at least for the initial recommendations.”
The selectboard, for its part, still has unfinished business of its own.
“We haven’t discussed how many people will be on the committee,” Selectman Daniel Quipp said, “but that’s another day.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Brattleboro, after weeks of discord, approves panel to review town police.