Vermont State Police pledges to advance women in policing

 

STATE OF VERMONT

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

VERMONT STATE POLICE

 

 

Vermont State Police pledges to advance women in policing

National 30x30 Pledge aims to bring more women into policing to improve public safety, community outcomes, and trust in law enforcement

 

WATERBURY, Vt. (Thursday, March 25, 2021) — The Vermont State Police today becomes the first statewide law-enforcement agency in the country to sign on to the 30x30 Pledge — a series of low- and no-cost actions that police agencies can take to improve the representation and experiences of women in law enforcement.

 

The actions will help policing agencies assess the current state of a department regarding gender equity; identify factors that may be driving any disparities; and develop and implement strategies and solutions to eliminate barriers and advance women in policing. These actions address recruitment, assessment, hiring, retention, promotion and agency culture.

 

The pledge is the foundational effort of the 30x30 Initiative — a coalition of police leaders, researchers and professional organizations coming together to advance the representation and experiences of women in all ranks of policing across the United States. The 30x30 Initiative is affiliated with the Policing Project at NYU School of Law and the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE).

                                                                                                                                             

The goal of the 30x30 Initiative is to reach 30 percent of women in police recruit classes by 2030, and to ensure that policing agencies truly are representative of the jurisdiction the agency serves. While 30x30 is focused on advancing women in policing, these principles are applicable to all demographic diversity, not just gender. 

“The Vermont State Police is actively working toward improving the representation and experiences of women officers in our department,” said Capt. Julie Scribner, VSP’s co-director of fair & impartial policing and community affairs. “To better reflect the communities we serve, we know that we need to continue making strides toward hiring and retaining a diverse membership. We are honored to be among the first in the nation to make this critical commitment, and we look forward to working with and learning from agencies in Vermont and across the country that share our priority.”

 

More than 35 agencies — from major metro departments including the New York City Police Department, to mid-sized, rural, university and state policing agencies — have signed the 30x30 Pledge. The pledge is based on social science research that greater representation of women on police forces leads to better policing outcomes for communities.

 

Nationally, women make up only 12% of sworn officers — and about half that for state law-enforcement agencies. Women comprise about 3% of police leadership in the U.S. For the Vermont State Police, about 13% of troopers and 15% of leadership are represented by women. This underrepresentation of women in policing has significant public safety implications.

 

“We are grateful to the Vermont State Police for being one of the first in the nation to commit to being a part of this growing movement,” said Maureen McGough, co-founder of the 30x30 Initiative, chief of staff of the Policing Project at the New York University School of Law, and former policing expert at the U.S. Department of Justice. “We believe strongly that advancing women in policing is critical to improving public safety outcomes. We look forward to having more agencies follow VSP’s lead by signing the pledge and improving the representation and experiences of women in policing.”

 

For more information, visit www.30x30initiative.org.

 

Media contact:

Capt. Julie Scribner, co-director of fair & impartial policing and community affairs, is available for interviews to discuss this initiative. Please send requests by email to Public Information Officer Adam Silverman at adam.silverman@vermont.gov.

 

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Department of Public Safety, anti-domestic-violence groups receive $1M grant to support advocacy efforts

 

STATE OF VERMONT

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

VERMONT STATE POLICE

 

Department of Public Safety, anti-domestic-violence groups receive $1M grant to support advocacy efforts

 

WATERBURY, Vt. (Monday, March 1, 2021) — A nearly $1 million federal grant awarded to the Vermont Department of Public Safety will launch an innovative partnership with community advocacy organizations and a national research group aimed at reducing domestic violence in Vermont.

 

Grant funds will be divided among the Vermont State Police, the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, and the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, a national nonprofit that works in all 50 states to increase public safety and strengthen communities. The three organizations have been recognized as innovative leaders in taking on domestic violence, and the three-year grant allows their critical work to expand even further.

 

“This grant offers us the opportunity to provide a modern response to people who cause harm in their relationships, through collaboration across law enforcement and community-based groups such as the Vermont Network that work with survivors,” said state police Maj. Ingrid Jonas, commander of the Support Services Division and a leader of the agency’s efforts to reduce domestic violence statewide.

 

The goals of the grant-funded initiative: Develop more effective ways to intervene with people who cause harm in their relationships; expand the focus of reducing domestic violence to be more inclusive of historically marginalized communities; and harness research to target the effort most effectively at centering the safety of survivors.

 

“We know we have a domestic violence problem here in Vermont,” said Karen Tronsgard-Scott, executive director of the Vermont Network. “We have an outstanding system of organizations that provide services to survivors of domestic violence, and we have a small cadre of organizations that provide domestic violence accountability programming, but we need to do more in order to stem the tide of domestic violence in the state.”

 

In Vermont each year, an average of 50% of all homicides are the result of interpersonal or domestic violence. In 2019, the Vermont Network reports that its 16 member organizations answered 18,921 hotline calls and helped 8,760 individuals, predominantly with issues of domestic violence and sexual assault.

 

Conversations in Vermont and across the country about policing reform make the timing particularly apt for this local collaboration, Network Executive Director Tronsgard-Scott said. “I’m excited to do this work with the Vermont State Police,” she said. “This grant really will help us build the kinds of relationships we need to lead to positive outcomes.”

 

Maj. Jonas agreed, saying, “We bring different strengths and backgrounds to this partnership. The Vermont State Police has worked for years to improve its response to domestic violence, including coordinating with community groups and working to roll out a threat assessment for use throughout Vermont. This new initiative allows us to do even more in service of survivors of domestic violence.”

 

The grant will enable the Vermont Network to hire a coordinator to oversee the project; support the creation of a working group to manage the initiative; cover the costs of CSG Justice Center research; and provide funding to cover a domestic violence response coordinator within the Vermont State Police.

 

The working group will collaborate with the CSG Justice Center to gather and process data, conduct interviews, engage stakeholders and take additional steps as needed to provide a deep examination of Vermont’s systems for domestic violence intervention and prevention. The group then will make recommendations on structural and systemic reforms, and work with policymakers to implement those reforms.

 

One goal is to look beyond heterosexual relationships and provide more support for people in same-sex relationships, BIPOC individuals, immigrants, refugees, and the state’s farmworker community, among others.

 

The project also will develop more effective and timely intervention strategies with people who cause harm in their relationships, including restorative justice and addressing abusers who also experience substance-use disorder.

 

“This is going to make a big difference in our state for survivors,” Executive Director Tronsgard-Scott said. “It’s going to catalyze a conversation that’s long overdue.”

 

The Department of Public Safety and the Vermont State Police are the formal recipients of the grant, which was sought in spring 2020 and awarded by the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance late last year. The funding breakdown includes $649,273 for the CSG Justice Center, which will dedicate a team to the Vermont project; $252,000 for the Vermont Network; and $29,127 for the Vermont State Police. The three-year grant could be extended for an additional two years if necessary.

 

MEDIA CONTACT

Members of the Vermont State Police and the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence are available to speak to the media regarding the grant award. Interview requests may be made to the VSP public information officer, Adam Silverman, by email at adam.silverman@vermont.gov.

 

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