MONTPELIER — In what was a jarring juxtaposition, city councilors heaped praise on retiring Police Chief Anthony Facos moments after being urged by more than a dozen residents to dismantle the department he has run since being promoted to serve as the Capital City’s top cop in 2007.
Most who spoke at the outset of Wednesday night’s virtual council meeting said the same thing, renewing their two-week-old call to move toward defunding local law enforcement and shifting those resources to underwrite new structures to achieve the same goals.
Hubbard Street resident Rachel Kemple spoke first.
“I’m here to tell the mayor, the City Council and the city manager that to create a community that truly respects the dignity and humanity of all who live, work and visit Montpelier, the Montpelier Police Department must be abolished,” Kemple said reading from a prepared statement that was repeated – mostly verbatim – by a dozen others who spoke after her.
Ewing Street resident Stephanie Gomory was one of them.
“Systematic racism means that the outcomes of our systems are racist,” Gomory said. “It means that even if all the individuals within the system are not racist, or, better yet, are trying to be actively anti-racist, the outcomes of the system would still be racist. This is true of all policing and our entire justice system as well.”
Bailey Avenue resident Lauren Griswold joined the small, but vocal chorus repeating words the council had already heard several times before.
“We know abolition won’t happen overnight,” she said. “It’s a long process we all must go through together as a community.
“This includes examining why and how police function to begin with and acknowledging policing has its roots in white supremacy and racism,” Griswold added. “We must implement new systems of justice, emergency response and conflict resolution.”
Almost all who spoke referenced the resolution the council later adopted honoring Facos for “… starting modern initiatives surrounding policing” and for his “compassionate approach to policing.”
It was a good first step, according to Constantinos Stivaros and others who spoke.
“We’re happy that the council acknowledges the benefits of relying less on armed individuals to respond to calls for assistance from the community, but we’re not going to let the changing of the guard and the appointment of a new chief distract us from the fact that policing itself is rooted in racism and white supremacy,” Stivaros said. “It’s harmful to people of color in Montpelier, it’s harmful affected by poverty, people struggling with mental illness and many other people that end up in contact with police.”
Some strayed further from the script than others and a couple ignored it completely while expressing support for the proposed abolition of the police department. Two people renewed a two-week-old demand that the city immediately eliminate a school-based police officer.
“Armed police officers have no place in our schools,” said Alison Byrnes, expressing a sentiment later echoed by fellow East Montpelier resident David Hershey.
Kaia Santana, a Black woman who moved to Montpelier with her family from Brooklyn four years ago, did not throw her full-throated support behind the call to abolish police, but did say some of the money spent on the department might be used elsewhere.
Santana did offer a couple of observations about living in the Capital City where she said she doesn’t feel safe using crosswalks alone and would like to see more officers on foot getting to know people of color within the community.
Santana said her 16-year-old son resembles a “transient” she spotted in the community last summer and would feel better if police familiarized themselves with her family.
“I’m concerned that if anything ever happened my son may be mistaken for this young man,” she said.
Though Santana’s comments were devoid of any mention of racism and white supremacy with respect to police, repeated references by others earlier in the evening prompted City Clerk John Odum to weigh in.
Odum said he has sometimes been critical of police in general and has “butted heads” with Facos in the past, but suggested dialing down the rhetoric would be productive.
“Not only do I respect Chief Facos I consider him a friend and I just hope … as some of these earnest, meaningful, honest and sincere conversations go forward that we can please try to have them without implying that the officers, current police chief, or the incoming police chief are somehow unwitting dupes of racism,” Odum said. “I don’t think that’s fair.”
Facos and his soon-to-be-sworn-in successor, Brian Peete, both attended the virtual meeting, but did not react to the series of similar statements.
Mayor Anne Watson said the council wanted to give Peete, who will be sworn in during a brief ceremony next Wednesday, a chance to settle in before engaging in the discussion demanded by most who spoke at the meeting.
“I think we’re all interested in having … Montpelier work well for all of its residents and that means having hard conversations about racism and about the structures that we have,” she said, urging people to remain engaged and be patient.
“This is an appropriate conversation to be having, but ... it isn’t going to be short and that’s OK,” Watson said.
Councilor Lauren Hierl agreed.
“I look forward to really robust conversations that could really challenge how our community thinks,” she said.
In a matter of minutes the council pivoted from a public comment period that featured repeated calls to abolish a police department they were told is rooted in racism and white supremacy, to showering Facos with praise for running it with remarkable professionalism.
Watson read aloud a glowing resolution recounting Facos’ 35-year-career that began and will soon end in Montpelier where he grew up, attended high school and joined the police department as a part-time officer in 1985.
“It’s been the greatest honor of my life to lead this department and make this little part of Vermont that much better for everyone,” Facos said, thanking the council for recognition every one of them said said was well deserved.
“You have led with compassion and … you’ve led by example,” Watson told Facos. “Your compassion and dedication to protecting people and making Montpelier work for everyone has truly been evident.”
Councilor Dan Richardson described Facos as “a model of professionalism and progressive thought in policing” and said the Montpelier department was comparatively problem-free because of his service.
“You have been a fantastic resource for Montpelier and a great leader,” he told Facos.
Councilor Jack McCullough agreed, noting the local department has a record of working with the community.
“It’s why we are where lots of other places would want to be with our police department,” he said, amid an avalanche of accolades and promises a proper send-off would be scheduled when an ongoing public health crisis permits.
david.delcore
@timesargus.com
