By Mike Donoghue
Vermont News First
Two Chittenden County communities – Hinesburg and Shelburne — have new permanent police chiefs.
Inspector Christopher Romance has retired from the Rockville Centre (N.Y.) Village Police to accept the post with the Hinesburg Community Police, effective Feb. 16.
Interim Shelburne Police Chief Josh Flore, who has given 31 years of full and part-time service to the town, is now permanently in charge of the department.
Romance as an Inspector worked as the police chief (executive officer) for Rockville Center Police, which has 58 sworn officers, 30 civilians. They serve a community of about 26,000 residents that mushrooms during the day and has a hospital and a college. The community on the south side of Long Island also has an 18-member auxiliary police force for weekend duties and special events in the village.
Romance, 54, will be paid $112,000 a year to start. He does not have a contract with the town, Hinesburg Municipal Manager Todd Odit told Vermont News First.
Romance has three children and a stepdaughter. His wife, who works remotely, will remain in New York until summer with their youngest child, who is finishing his senior year of high school. The other three children are in college.
Hinesburg Police Officer Frank Bryan, who was named Interim Chief in February 2025 will serve until Romance arrives Feb. 16. The former Burlington Police officer said he was not interested in the permanent post.
Romance will be the permanent replacement for former Hinesburg Chief Anthony Cambridge, who had a roller coaster police career in South Burlington and Hinesburg. He quit Hinesburg after a disagreement with Odit to go fulltime to Richmond as Police Chief in February 2025, but never arrived. His start date was set three times and the night before Cambridge was finally due to report, the town of Richmond announced it had cancelled his signed agreement. He eventually was hired as the police chief in Wolf Point, Montana, a town of 2,300, in September 2025 to rebuild a trouble-plagued department on an Indian reservation.
Flore is the permanent replacement for Police Chief Michael Thomas. Thomas, 67, died from cancer in June 2025. Flore, a senior sergeant, was initially named acting chief, but later promoted to the title of interim police chief.
Flore signed a 3-year contract that calls for an annual salary of $132,000 in the first year, Town Manager Todd Lawless told Vermont News First.
Lawless said Flore will be on probation for one year, but will get credit for the past five months overseeing the police department.
Flore, 54, of Charlotte also served his home community for about 17 years as the town constable until last year.
Lawless said a background check on Flore also must be completed to confirm all items and certifications claimed are accurate.
Christopher Romance
Romance said he is prepared for the change in scenery and work setting. He told Vermont News First in a phone interview he likes to be out on the road and dealing with the public, but can also handle the administrative duties.
Odit said it was a point of emphasis during multiple discussions with Romance that he would be a working chief responding to calls for service in the community and not just sitting at a desk.
Hinesburg is authorized five police officers with the chief, Odit said.
Romance said his family has had a time share condo near Smugglers Notch for about 20 years. He said the plan was to always move to Vermont when his New York career ended.
Romance said when the Hinesburg job was advertised late last year, he jumped at it. He had completed just over 29 years of police service when he retired Jan. 31.
Odit said there were nine applicants for the Hinesburg post and the list was whittled to three people for interviews. There were eventually only two finalists, who had two sets of interviews before Romance was picked.
Odit noted Romance also has a strong background in overseeing Emergency Management. Knowing he was coming to Vermont after his retirement, Romance became a Vermont-certified Emergency Management Director last year. He also is a nationally certified Emergency Medical Care Instructor.
Romance joined Rockville as a patrol officer in 1997. He worked himself through the ranks of Sergeant (2005), Lieutenant (2010), and Police Inspector (Chief), and also later serving as Acting Commissioner of Police.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from New York Institute of Technology in 1994 in Computer Science and Behavioral Science and is a 2011 graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Odit said there was a comprehensive recruitment process that included internal town leadership, community participation, and professional search support from retired Vermont State Police Capt. Julie Scribner of JW Leadership Consulting.
Romance said he has been getting up to speed on issues in Hinesburg and the department has shared reports and other information so he can hit the ground running.
After he arrives in Hinesburg Romance will be required to take some law enforcement classes at the Vermont Police Academy so that he can be certified as a police office. Instead of attending the 17-week academy for fulltime officers, the state will have him focus on certain Vermont laws: criminal, motor vehicle, juvenile and domestic violence laws. He also will take a Vermont course on its Fair and Impartial Policing law.
No date has been set for the swearing in ceremony for Chief Romance.
Josh Flore
Meanwhile, Shelburne never advertised its vacancy outside the department. Flore was given the chance to prove he was the right man for the job, Lawless said. He said Flore showed he had the experience, relationships and confidence to do the job. The internal promotion saved the town considerable expense by having a national search, the manager said.
Flore has had a roller coaster ride with police chiefs in Shelburne. He began under Chief James Warden, who served for 30 years and was beloved by the residents, but was pushed out in the end by a new town manager in favor of Aaron Noble. Things were rocky under Chief Noble, who eventually resigned and his settlement cost Shelburne taxpayers nearly $200,000, news accounts noted.
Chief Thomas followed, but a staffing shortage of police and dispatchers under Noble forced Shelburne to eliminate overnight patrols and to contract with the Vermont State Police for service. Thomas eventually built the department back up.
One of the first things Flore and the manager need to address is finishing contract talks with the police union, they both said. A 5-year pact is due to expire June 30.
Lawless said he had hoped to resolve it before Town Meeting Day, but it looks like more time will be needed.