Warren Select Board members will take public comment on the rules and responsibilities of town constables, particularly whether they should carry firearms, continuing a discussion that started on Town Meeting Day.
The first public hearing on the issue was held on April 12, after Warren’s second constable, Jeff Campbell, told Town Meeting attendees that he would be hesitant to respond to some specific situations unarmed.
Out of fear for his personal safety, Campbell told select board members in April that sometimes, “I don’t feel comfortable not carrying a gun.”
Campbell told town officials that the Washington County sheriffs have invited the constables to do firearm training and that they would like to “get as much training as we can that’s available,” he said.
Warren First Constable Gene Bifano told town officials that come July 2012, following a two-year extension of the state statute that mandates all part-time law enforcement officers complete 186 hours of training, constables’ enforcement powers will be limited without the certification.
Currently, constables still have power of enforcement. Bifano previously attended a five-day course at the Vermont Police Academy that covered firearms safety, use of force and extensive training on Fourth Amendment rights.
Last month Bifano told select board members that “training is required and I think it’s essential and we should have it.”
Select board chair Andy Cunningham said, “There is the statute and there is what the select board is going to empower you to do.”
Select board member Bob Ackland asked the constables if they had “a clear sense of what you’re being ask to do?”
Town officials discussed coming up with a police policy for the town to “set a bar,” Cunningham said, for elected constables to meet. The standard would rely on the state police or overarching body that would determine whether the part-time law enforcement officers are fit to carry a weapon.
Cunningham suggested writing up rules and responsibilities of the constables as well as a job description to be adopted by the town.
At the last hearing, Cunningham told residents that the select board has been working to control crime and what he called “the perceived notion that we have burglaries everywhere.” Funds were removed from the sheriff’s budget and put towards training and equipment for the elected constables.
Cunningham also stressed the importance of the constables “feeling comfortable” when responding to calls. Reilly said the intention of the constables is to serve as first responders to the scenes of accidents and crimes. Campbell said the constables have been called at least 10 times in the last month by the VSP.
The constables have responded to domestic assaults and burglaries and serve as an intermediary official between the state troopers and the town. Currently state troopers are understaffed, with only two troops covering 24 towns, according to Ackland.
Town officials will take public comment and input from the VSP and Washington County Sheriff’s Department at the May 24 meeting.
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