Five members of the Vermont State Police resigned amid probes into allegations of misconduct and another was terminated, according to the latest semiannual state report on complaints leading to internal investigations.
Three of the resignations from July 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2021, had been previously reported by VTDigger involving troopers who possessed fake Covid-19 vaccination documents. VTDigger reported in September that those three troopers were Shawn Sommers, Raymond Witkowski and David Pfindel.
However, while the state Department of Public Safety disclosed those names at the time, the report released Tuesday by the department and State Police Advisory Commission did not include any names.
Adam Silverman, a Vermont State Police spokesperson, said no names are in the report released Tuesday because that document is governed by rules regarding internal matters.
The report also provides only a sentence or two summary of each misconduct allegation.
The seven-member State Police Advisory Commission is responsible for providing “advice and counsel” to the public safety commissioner on matters regarding misconduct allegations that rise to the level of internal investigations against Vermont State Police officers.
In total, over the six-month period covered by the latest report, 19 misconduct cases led to internal investigations. Twelve of those cases were determined to be “founded,” two ruled “unfounded,” and five — those involving the resignations before the probes could be completed and adjudicated — listed as “other,” the report showed.
Past public records requests seeking additional information into misconduct and disciplinary actions against troopers have been denied, and in one case generated the response, “if such records exist, (they) are confidential records of the Office of Internal Investigation and are exempt from public inspection and copying” under state statute.
In addition to three troopers in the misconduct case involving the fake Covid-19 vaccination cards, another trooper who resigned had faced an allegation of engaging in a “romantic relationship” with another trooper “without informing their chain of command,” according to Tuesday’s report. The other trooper involved in that relationship got a letter of reprimand, the report indicated.
Also, according to the two-page report, another trooper who resigned had been facing an inquiry into whether excessive force was used against a person who’d been taken into custody.
All five members of the force who resigned did so before their actions were investigated, so no disciplinary actions were taken, the report stated.
One trooper, accused of sexually harassing three other members of the force, was fired because policies and rules had been violated, the report stated.
The cases of the three troopers with fake Covid-19 vaccination cards were referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Vermont, as well as the FBI.
Vermont State Police previously reported the FBI was investigating that case. Silverman, the state police spokesperson, referred questions Tuesday about the status of that probe to the FBI.
Sarah Ruane, a spokesperson for the FBI office in Albany, New York, which oversees Vermont, stated in an email Tuesday she could not comment on the matter.