State Police Attempting to Divert Funds Allocated for Body cams to Purchase Assault Rifles

Digger Report

Thank you legislators for calling law enforcement on this one.  Please host a public hearing on civilian oversight of law enforcement to address the edifice of this.  

Otherwise?  Whack-a-mole!

House Rule 25 says that House Government Operations has oversight responsibility.  Chairwoman Copeland-Hanzas, please call a hearing.

"Sen. Tim Ashe, the head of the Senate, said shifting the funds in the current year’s budget from cameras, which he said provide transparency, to weapons was “incongruous” and combining two unrelated issues.

Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, said if the state police need additional equipment, they should make a separate request through the regular budget process.

“The idea that we would raid a fund that was intended to bring transparency for law enforcement interactions, eliminate the funds available for that in order to solve this other problem, you’re conflating the two. We can have that discussion another day,” he said.

“I don’t know that this should be a choice between properly equipped law enforcement versus one of the most important tools to protect both law enforcement officials and the subjects of police incidents,” Ashe said, adding the body cameras were sought because of allegations that police had acted improperly in some police shootings in which civilians were killed."

#whoswatchingVTPD