By Guy Page
At least three federal law enforcement agencies are taking a more hands-on approach to Vermont crime, entering into partnership with major Vermont law enforcement agencies.
GUN VIOLENCE – Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Burlington Police Department: Formation of Chittenden County Gun Violence Task Force to “address the disturbing increase in firearm-related violent crime in Chittenden County.
Since July, three people have died by violent gunfire in Burlington. Two had likely drug and gang connections. A third was a UVM college student shot to death by an ex-lover. The Burlington ATF office will become the first in the nation to have a local ballistic evidence evaluation system that can “talk” to other systems nationwide, to link crimes here with crimes committed elsewhere.
Both Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger and Chief Jon Murad have expressed concern that the most recent murder, in City Hall Park, might be connected with out-of-state gangs.
SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY – Department of Homeland Security and the Vermont State Police: “See Something, Say Something.” DHS designated Sunday, September 25 as #SeeSayDay.
DHS says the campaign “is an initiative that encourages individuals across the nation to be the eyes and ears for safer communities. A safe community requires the joint effort of all community members. The more observant and involved individuals are in their daily lives, the less likely crime will occur undetected. If we watch and report suspicious activity, we reduce the areas where criminals feel comfortable committing crimes, resulting in safer towns and cities across the nation.”
In Vermont, people can report suspicious activity by calling 844-84-VTIPS (844-848-8477) or visiting http://www.vtips.us.
HATE CRIMES – The United States Attorney’s Office, VT Attorney General’s Office, Rutland Area NAACP: Hate-Free Vermont Forum.
One forum has already been held in Rutland. The next will gather in Bennington on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, from 5:30 – 7:30 PM.
Community members are encouraged to join us for a conversation on understanding and addressing bias, discrimination, and hate crimes in Vermont.
“The Forum aims to bring policymakers, stakeholders, and community members together for productive and difficult conversations that will work to reduce animus, discord, and misunderstandings,” said Co-facilitator Etan Nasreddin-Longo. “When we began these conversations in 2019, our goal was to take the pulse of Vermonters’ experience of discrimination. Much has happened since that time, and our hope is to engage and to listen to our historically-disadvantaged communities about what they view as the continuing and new problems in 2022.”
The Forum will be hosted remotely (register here) in person at the Mount Anthony Union High School, Cafeteria, 301 Park St, Bennington. All are welcome.
The VT AG’s office hopes Vermonters will be direct with their comments and suggestions. “What aren’t we doing that we should be doing?” said Assistant Attorney General Julio Thompson, director of the office’s civil rights unit. “What are we doing that you think we can do better? And what are we doing that you think is not working at all?”
Categories: Crime
The solution to this completely reversible problem of violent crime involving guns is to have every one of these cases handled by Vermont’s US Attorney invoking EXISTING, TOUGH FEDERAL GUN LAWS. Most of these cases involve perpetrators with prior felonies making them PROHIBITED from possessing firearms, and the penalties are severe. If these “prohibited persons” are also involved in drug trafficking or other crimes, the penalties are enhanced further. Vermont has become targeted by organized and disorganized gangs from downcountry because some State’s Attorneys have gone woke and have used race and “historically disadvantaged” status of perpetrators as excuses to decline pursuing most cases adequately. This is simply a lack of deterrence in a justice vacuum and can be completely remedied by the will of the voters.
The State is relinquishing soverignty and control to the Feds? The State has lost control of containing and maintaining law and order? Every citizen should be alarmed and concerned when the State opens the door and invites the Federal Government to come in and start running the show. Once the State hands over control, it will not be returned. You will clearly see how the “one world government” works when the State can no longer function without Federal assistance or control. Our tax money is not running the State if the Feds are here dictating how the State will function. It started with COVID and now it’s law and order. Defund the police is all about Federal control. Game plan known.
The State HAS lost control of containing and maintaining law and order. Concerning getting a handle on the current level of violence in Vermont, particularly involving guns, it is clear that most district-level jurisdictions are not up to the task of holding even the most serious offenders responsible for their actions. Because of the predominant ideological makeup of Vermont voters, this is not likely to change. Chittenden County voters in every town gave State’s Attorney Sarah George the seal of approval in the last primary election, so apparently most people are fine with the revolving door status quo. And as long as guns are in the news, the Vermont Legislature is going to keep coming back with their predictable laundry list of proposed restrictions on law-abiding firearms owners’ rights. Our EXISTING, tough federal gun laws are the only option to remove these violent offenders from polite society and create a disincentive for the downcountry gangs from sending suppliers up here. The last president appointed a very competent US Attorney, Christina Nolan, who focused on violent crime and human trafficking. Not sure how the current US Attorney will turn out but federal prosecutions for gun crimes are really the last option.
This is so completely “puzzling” how the once safest state in the nation is now sometimes not even showing up on certain “safest states” lists at all depending upon the criteria used. Open U.S. borders, not prosecuting offenders, the radical “Rights & Democracy VT” bussing in criminals from NYC, MA, CT, etc. as they “mistake” “diversity” for CRIMINALITY – and FORCED diversity never works in any event.
It was predictable from the onset that Vermont’s number one form of revenue – tourism – would eventually falter and it has……Bennington has virtually no tourism now and business proprietors are screaming about Burlington’s with L.L. Bean the first to bid farewell even prior to the moronic “Defund the “police” movement…..
You reap what you sow, Vermont. Make more arrests, but George Soros has seen to it that no one will be prosecuted.
We re-elected the do nothing coddle repeat violent offenders
“Prosecutor” Sarah George, who releases the same violent offenders over and over. The police bring them back in for another violent offense
10 days later.
We need to fill our jail cells, until this violence ends, or goes somewhere else.
Where are our judges, they have some say over stupid “prosecutors”
“Hate crime” is a nebulous phrase that can be twisted to fit the agendas of whoever is making the call.