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Forum examines law enforcement response to racial discrimination in Vermont

Rutland Area NAACP Criminal Justice chair Tabitha Moore moderates Hate-Free Vermont forum
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Rutland Area NAACP Criminal Justice chair Tabitha Moore moderates Hate-Free Vermont forum

A recent forum in Rutland examined ways law enforcement and other stakeholders can address bias and discrimination in Vermont.

The Hate-Free Vermont forum was co-hosted by the Rutland area NAACP, the Vermont Attorney General’s office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont. It is part of a series of forums that has been held since 2019 to look at discrimination in Vermont and find ways to reduce conflict and inequality.

Rutland Area NAACP Criminal Justice chair and forum facilitator Tabitha Moore noted that the meeting was intended to be a safe place to allow people to speak and learn from each other.

“We always are looking for ways to provide forums and spaces for people to say what they need to say to the people who could potentially do something. We are bringing together, again, the people who have the power to make systemic and structural changes that intersect with the issues that are covered by the Rutland area branch of the NAACP.”

Rutland area NAACP President Mia Schultz was curious how, and if, law enforcement works together to investigate racial and hate crimes.

“I find that there’s a big gap of lack of understanding to know how law enforcement, local law enforcement, works in conjunction with yourself because it feels like there’s a disconnect, at least in my experience.”

Vermont Attorney General Civil Rights Unit Director Julio Thompson has been working on a system to increase collaboration between the various agencies.

“In 2019 our office, through talking to our federal partners and state’s attorneys and police departments, asked them to participate in a voluntary program. We call it the Bias Incident Reporting System. And so part of the job is to try to connect those dots so we all know what we’re doing and also so that we’re not stepping over each other’s investigations. We try to work together and collaboratively.”

The Albany FBI Field Office covers the state of Vermont. Supervisory Special Agent and Civil Rights Program coordinator Brian Jacob said they need the public to be willing to report hate crimes.

“2020 is the last year that data is available. The state of Vermont had 60 reported hate crimes that the FBI is aware of. We don’t think that is an accurate number. So we request your help in trying to help those vulnerable populations get to us or get to a law enforcement agency so that we can appropriately report it and get the data accurate and then we can conduct our investigations after that.”