Vermont Criminal Justice Council outlines training reforms, curriculum review and staffing needs to legislative committee

Christopher Bacallum, executive director of the Vermont Criminal Justice Council, told the House Government Operations & Military Affairs committee that the council has expanded its board, rewritten rules governing training and professional conduct, and is in year two of a curriculum review for Vermont’s law enforcement academy.

The presentation Tuesday covered three policy changes already implemented in rule — adoption of a law enforcement officers’ code of conduct, moving ARIDE impaired-driving training into rule so prerequisites can be enforced, and new recertification and instructor-qualification standards — plus ongoing work on entrance testing, a planned level‑1 certification course and several operational initiatives.

“Please feel free to call me Chris,” Bacallum said when he introduced himself to the committee. He described the council as a 24‑member body created in 2020 that now includes law‑enforcement practitioners and stakeholder seats the legislature added to broaden oversight and community representation.

Why it matters: the council and the Vermont Police Academy set statewide training, certification and recertification standards for more than 1,400 sworn officers and determine how complaints of unprofessional conduct are reviewed and sanctioned. Changes to training rules and…