By Guy Page
A veteran police officer and Vermont Criminal Justice Council member has resigned from the council and from his two police jobs following a Zoom meeting ‘hot mic’ moment.
During Wednesday’s Vermont Criminal Justice Council meeting, called to discuss possible changes in the state’s Fair and Impartial Policing policy, an invited member of Migrant Justice – the advocacy group for illegal immigrants – was speaking when a ‘zoom bomb’ voice was heard via cellphone to say, “you’re here f—–g illegally.”
The chastened speaker later identified himself as Michael Major, the Vermont Police Association representative to the council. He was apparently ‘speaking to the screen,’ unaware his comments could be heard. His explanation that he was talking to his daughter was not accepted as either true or excusable by other members, who called for his resignation.
After lengthy discussion, Major – apologizing profusely, and no longer claiming he was talking to his daughter – submitted his resignation to the council. He submitted his resignation to the Bristol Police Department, where he was listed as a part-time officer, on Wednesday. A day later, Sheriff Dan Gamelin issued a statement saying he had accepted Major’s resignation as a deputy sheriff. (Major unsuccessfully ran for the sheriff position in 2018.)
It is not known whether his resignations from his police officer jobs were solicited.
VCJC spokesperson said Major’s conduct doesn’t fall under conduct liable for police officer decertification – one of the council’s most prominent duties.
Here is the link to the meeting. The passcode is: QME7@pg8. The comments of interest begin at around 45:30.
In the early days of the Trump administration, the State of Vermont adopted a controversial policy limiting enforcement of federal immigration law. VDC reporter Mike Bielawski has been assigned to write an analysis of whether, in fact, Migrant Justice representatives’ presence in Vermont is illegal. Stay tuned for his story next week.
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The Vermont Criminal Justice Council issued the following statement Wednesday afternoon.
“Earlier today, during the general discussion portion of the Vermont Criminal Justice Council’s regularly scheduled public meeting, a Council member, Mike Major, made an offensive statement that was insulting to our invited guests from Migrant Justice, to our other Council members, and to the organizations and communities that our Council members represent.
“Mr. Major’s remark occurred during a series of statements from community stakeholders who were expressing their frustration with the Council due to the Council removing the Fair and Impartial Policing Policy from the meeting’s agenda. While Mr. Major stated that he had not intended for his comments to be heard by the Council or the public, the impact of his words was devastating. Members of the Council, including the Council’s Chair, William Sorrell, swiftly condemned Mr. Major’s words expressing that his comments not only detract from the hard work by Vermont Law Enforcement to understand and address concerns of marginalized groups, but that his divisive remark exemplifies the fears felt by marginalized populations too often in our State.
“The Council wishes to reiterate that Mr. Major’s words are not representative of the Council nor of law enforcement in the State of Vermont. Chair Sorrell wishes to further state, “Today’s appalling incident underscores the need for our Council and others to redouble efforts to eliminate discriminatory attitudes and actions by some Vermont law enforcement personnel in the performance of their duties.” The Council accepted Mr. Major’s resignation from his seat on the Council which he tendered during the meeting. Mr. Major had been serving as the representative of the Vermont Police Association.
“The Fair and Impartial Policy has been diligently worked on by the Council’s Fair and Impartial Policing subcommittee. The subcommittee submitted its proposed policy revisions to the Council in December of 2023. After the policy was discussed at the last two Council meetings, the policy was listed on the agenda today for a potential vote. The removal from today’s agenda was requested by the Chair of The Council, William Sorrell, so that the subcommittee could review and address the concerns raised by the Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police prior to the Council moving forward with further discussion on the policy. The Fair and Impartial Policing Policy is significant to the rights of all people in Vermont. Chair Sorrell requested the removal of the policy from the agenda with deep regret but with the understanding that this additional delay would ensure that all stakeholders’ points of view were heard and factored into the subcommittee’s proposed policy and the Council’s subsequent review of the policy.”
According to its website: The mission of the Vermont Criminal Justice Council is to establish rules, policies, regulations and standards for certification and training of criminal justice personnel and to serve as a resource to municipalities, counties, and the state to improve the quality of citizen protection. We will accomplish our mission by developing a comprehensive program to provide high quality criminal justice training in a cooperative, efficient and effective manner through proper utilization of modern technology and coordination of our facility. We provide an aggressive in-service training calendar designed to meet this goal.