Document shredding, social media accounts called to question

By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First

Former Hinesburg Police Chief Anthony Cambridge, who has been given two start dates as the fulltime Richmond Police Chief, has failed to appear for both, according to the Richmond Town Manager.

Cambridge was initially scheduled to start on Feb. 18, but Town Manager Josh Arneson announced during a selectboard meeting that night that Cambridge did not begin work.

Arneson said Cambridge was given a new start date of Feb. 24, but Arneson told Vermont News First on Monday that Cambridge was delayed again.

Cambridge, who had shared the job as acting chief in the two towns, is now due to start fulltime in Richmond next Tuesday March 4, the manager said.

Arneson gave no explanation for the two delays when asked by Vermont News First. He said it was a mutual agreement.

The manager declined to speculate on delaying the start date again.

Cambridge, in a phone interview Monday, said the delay was fully on Richmond’s end. The chief said he has been ready to start work since last month. Cambridge said he knows of no local, state or federal investigation into him that would delay his start.

“I passed a 2-month long background check in connection with my application for the job in Richmond. My personnel file does not contain any documents showing concerns …. No charges were ever brought against me,” he said.

“I am disturbed by the smear campaign taking place in Hinesburg. I abruptly quit my position as Hinesburg Chief of Police because I already had a position in Richmond starting in a few weeks, and I could not tolerate the consistent and sustained efforts to undermine me,” Cambridge said in an email.

“I believe that I was and am a highly effective Chief of Police,” he said.

Since Cambridge’s hiring was announced in January, the Richmond Selectboard has had a series of closed-door meetings this month to discuss personnel and the police department.

Last week the board made three motions to go into executive session at its regular meeting. The items to discuss were: “update on police department hiring,” “discussion of personnel issue,” and “evaluation of a public officer.”

In each case they came back into public session, took no action, and moved on to the next motion to go behind closed doors.

The Selectboard also held a special meeting this week on Monday night to discuss behind closed doors an “update on police department hiring.” It was the lone item on the agenda and lasted for about 40 minutes. No action was taken.

The Hinesburg Police Department continues to lose personnel. Sgt. Brett Flansburg left the Hinesburg department to join the Vergennes Police Department as a patrol officer on Monday.

The hiring brings Vergennes to seven full-time officers, one short of its authorized strength, according to Chief Jason Ouelette.

Ouelette said Flansburg was willing to take less money and a lower rank.

Hinesburg has named Officer Frank Bryan as interim police chief. The town bypassed Sgt. Flansburg, a former state police patrol commander and Cpl. Jeremy Holshof to be interim chief.

Arenson told Vermont News First that reports indicating Richmond was planning to hire Flansburg and Holshof along with Cambridge were untrue.

Hinesburg, which is now down to only three full-time officers, has told taxpayers patrols will be limited and nothing on weekends. The town leaders have indicated they want to decrease the police department.

Cambridge had served as both police chief in Hinesburg and was filling in for Richmond, which has been without a chief for more than a year.

Cambridge decided he wanted to focus his police career in Richmond, where he lives. Richmond hired him as chief in January at $99,958 and added a $3,000 bonus because he lived in town.

Richmond also agreed to provide him a take-home police cruiser with related costs.

Hinesburg Town Manager Todd Odit said this week he did receive word from at least two people that were concerned that Cambridge had shredded some papers in the office before he finished his job.

Cambridge told Vermont News First that he did shred some that were from his desk as he was leaving Hinesburg.

“I shredded the documents on the department shredder in the middle of the common room with other officers present. I discussed the kinds of documents that I was shredding with the officers. I shredded the documents because they contained personal information about members of our community,” he said in his email.

It was unknown if the shredding was in compliance with Vermont’s Public Records Law, which has strict retention provisions.

Cambridge volunteered one other complaint about him that he said was bogus — somebody had complained about department guns at his home.

“I was the armorer for the Hinesburg PD. I sometimes kept firearms at home for repair because that is where my tools were located. When I returned the firearms after resigning from Hinesburg PD, I had one Hinesburg handgun at my home. That is it. I had three Richmond firearms, two rifles and one handgun. I’ve never spoke to any officer or anyone regarding this matter, nor has it ever been suggested that it was a problem,” he said.

Vermont News First also has learned that Cambridge had been reported by Front Porch Forum in May 2023 to the town managers in both Hinesburg and Richmond for unusual activity on the email system.

Michael Wood-Lewis of FPF said multiple accounts had been created “by shared IP address, device identity and browser cookie data.”

The FPF complaint said several of the accounts submitted postings weighing in on local political issues.

“The accounts were particularly vocal around policing and racial equity issues,” Wood-Lewis said.

He said further postings were submitted to the Hinesburg and Richmond forums through the accounts “all of which are linked in various ways to the accounts of Amy Cambridge and/or Anthony Cambridge.”

He said the messages were supportive of the Hinesburg Police chief “on heated local issues.”

It was unclear how many actual residents may have seen the messages on FPF because there is no way to accurately track users. One person can have multiple accounts and some accounts remain in effect after people have died or moved out of town.

In its complaint to Hinesburg and Richmond, FPF had flagged 13 questionable accounts, including at least eight that had emails or addresses used by Anthony Cambridge or his wife, Amy.

When Arneson was asked about hiring Cambridge when he was aware of the FPF issue, he declined to comment, saying he considered it a personnel matter.

Richmond only has one active police officer, Cpl. Matt Cohen, who moved over from Williston Police. Cohen reports to HInesburg Officer Frank Bryan, who remains the acting chief for both departments. Bryan worked at Burlington Police before moving to Hinesburg.