Vermont Criminal Justice Council Statement to Communities
The Vermont Criminal Justice Council (VCJC) and all Vermont Law Enforcement agencies are committed to practicing fair and impartial policing. We value community trust, cooperation, and public safety. VCJC understands that the federal government’s immigration orders impact many Vermont communities, causing great anxiety. It is important to VCJC that Vermonters understand Vermont Law Enforcement’s responsibilities and communications with federal immigration authorities. VCJC has a comprehensive model policy about Fair and Impartial Policing. This letter is a snapshot of our Model Policy, and it is our hope that this letter makes the model Fair and Impartial Policing Policy easier to understand.
The VCJC worked with community organizations to create the Fair and Impartial Policing Policy, and every Council member voted in favor of accepting the policy. By law, all Vermont Law Enforcement Agencies (sheriffs, municipal/city, state, and towns) must adopt the components of the Vermont Criminal Justice Council’s Fair and Impartial Policing Policy within their own agency policies. This means that Vermont Law Enforcement Agencies commit to treat everyone living in and visiting Vermont fairly.
Here are important things to know:
- Vermont Law Enforcement cannot enforce federal civil immigration law.
- Vermont Law Enforcement can enforce federal criminal immigration law. Enforcing federal criminal immigration law is generally not a priority for Vermont Law Enforcement agencies.
- Vermont Law Enforcement should not arrest people without a warrant, hold people, help other agencies hold people, or use resources to investigate or enforce unlawful entry or unlawful reentry cases unless such actions are:
- Necessary to ensure public safety or officer safety (imminent risk of physical injury to subject, officer, or third party) or
- Essential to the investigation of criminal offenses unrelated to immigration law.
- Vermont Law Enforcement cannot use the characteristics in the list below, by themselves, to establish reasonable suspicion of a criminal offense. These characteristics on their own are not sufficient to warrant an investigation.
- Personal characteristics, including Limited English Proficiency Citizenship or Immigration status
- Presence in the United States without authorization or formal documentation, and
- Proximity to the border
- Two federal statutes, 8 U.S.C. §§ 1373 and 1644, state that local and state agencies and officials may not stop their employees from communicating with federal immigration authorities about a person’s citizenship or immigration status. However, State and local authorities may limit communications with federal immigration authorities regarding other types of information about individuals, such as:
- Physical appearance
- Current whereabouts
- Places of residence, work, or education
- Telephone number
- Vehicle/license plate information
- Social Security Number (SSN) or lack thereof
- Family relationships, or
- Custody status, release date/time, or court dates
VCJC’s model policy restricts local agencies from sharing the information listed above with federal immigration authorities except for in instances that involve safety issues or law enforcement needs that are not related to the enforcement of federal civil immigration law. The model policy contains a comprehensive list of legally permissible restrictions between the interactions of local and state law enforcement officers and federal immigration officers. Please see Fair and Impartial Policing Policy section VI for a detailed description of these restrictions.
We hope that this letter provides clarity for all Vermont’s residents and visitors, but especially for our most impacted and vulnerable communities.
VCJC Statement to Communities Translations and ASL Video
- ASL Video (YouTube)
- Arabic (ar)
- Burmese (my)
- Chinese (Simplified, PRC) (zh-CN)
- Dari (prs)
- French (Middle East and Africa) (fr-MEA)
- Kirundi (rn)
- Maay Maay (ymm)
- Nepali (ne)
- Pashto (Afghanistan) (ps-AF)
- Somali (so)
- Spanish (Latin America) (es-419)
- Swahili (sw)
- Vietnamese (vi)
Effective January 1, 2025 the Statewide Policy on Law Enforcement Officer's Code of Conduct will be legislatively mandated under Title 20 VSA 2371(a) (Act 124)
Below is a video overview of Law Enforcement Officer's Code of Conduct. This overview will be provided for information on statutory changes, sanctions for on and off-duty conduct, expectations for agencies that are required to investigate complaints of unprofessional conduct, and for officers to understand how violations of the Code of Conduct may impact their certification.
VCJC Law Enforcement Officers' Code of Conduct.pdf
Fair and Impartial Policing Policy 2024
Date: April 24, 2024
Fair and Impartial Policing Policy
On Tuesday, April 23, 2024 the Vermont Criminal Justice Council (VCJC) approved an update to the VCJC’s model Fair and Impartial Policing (FIP) policy. The unanimous vote, 18-0, in favor of the proposed revision was the culmination of multiple Council meetings dedicated to the discussion of five recommendations presented to the Council by the Council’s Fair and Impartial Policing Subcommittee.
The VCJC’s model Fair and Impartial Policing policy was last updated in January of 2018. While the policy has been reviewed for legal compliance, this is the first substantial update of the policy. In August of 2022, the Fair and Impartial subcommittee began its review of the policy focused on the sections of the policy concerning immigration and citizenship status. The subcommittee, comprised of Council members and community stakeholders, worked for over a year and a half, engaging with immigration advocacy groups and the Attorney General’s office to create recommended changes to the policy.
Some of the subcommittee’s recommendations were accepted in their entirety and some of the recommendations were not. The recommendations that were not adopted initially by the Council concerned a legal issue as to whether two of the recommendations conflicted with Federal immigration law. After much discussion, the Council, through negotiation and compromise was able to move forward in updated language in the two recommended areas with alternative language proposed by Council members.
Now that the Council has approved an updated FIP policy, individual law enforcement agencies will update their agency-specific Fair and Impartial Policing policy as soon as is practicable for the agency and its community. The VCJC, in consultation with the Attorney General’s Office, will review every agency’s updated FIP policy for compliance. This review needs to be completed within the next six months.
A copy of the policy can be found on our website: Model Fair and Impartial Policing policy | Criminal Justice Council (vermont.gov)
Annual Training Requirements for agencies are due March 1, 2024 for training obtained from January 1, 2023-December 31, 2023. All waivers for training needed outside of 2023 need to be submitted by December 31, 2023. Each agency has until March 1, 2024 to submit the 2023 annual training affidavit. See more information here: Annual Training Requirements for Certification (Rule 13) | Criminal Justice Council (vermont.gov)