Department of Public Safety briefs appropriations committee on radio replacements, staffing changes and new animal welfare division

Commissioner Jennifer Morrison told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the Vermont Department of Public Safety (DPS) is seeking targeted funding to address equipment replacement, new positions and grant shortfalls as it presented an overview of the department and its budget priorities.

Morrison said DPS comprises multiple divisions — led by the Vermont State Police, VCIC, Radio Technology Services, Fire Safety, Vermont Emergency Management, the State Forensic Laboratory and the recently created Division of Animal Welfare — and asked the committee for support for several line items in the budget.

The request includes a $500,000 base appropriation to begin a radio replacement cycle, additional federal funding and a proposed one-time general fund contribution. Rick Hallenbeck, director of finance administration, described the funding package as a combination of federal dollars (about $2.5 million), a $920,000 one-time general-fund proposal and the $500,000 base request to reach a roughly $4–4.5 million replacement target. Hallenbeck said the department’s goal is to establish a regular replacement cycle and that, in an ideal scenario, radios would be rotated so the fleet remains on an eight-to-ten-year cycle, replacing about one-quarter of radios each year.

Morrison and Hallenbeck also described a $600,000…