Northfield Town officials on a Nov. meeting turned their attention to a staffing shortfall in the town’s police department, hearing recommendations from a veteran criminal‑justice official and agreeing to immediate outreach to neighboring towns and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) to pursue interim coverage and a consultant‑assisted chief search.

Bill (speaker S3), who identified himself as chair of the Vermont Criminal Justice Council and a longtime professor of criminology and criminal justice, told the board that recruitment challenges are not unique to Northfield and recommended hiring an interim level‑3 certified leader while pursuing a permanent chief. “You realize that we have about the same police protections we do up at our camp up in the Northeast Kingdom right now, and we live in a town of 6,000,” Bill said, arguing an interim chief would immediately increase the town’s operational capacity.

The recommendation included several concrete outreach options: VLCT staffers who assist with executive searches, the Vermont police academy (including an executive director contact), and private consultants such as Jim Baker’s JW Leadership Consulting. Bill noted the fastest path to full level‑3 certification is the academy’s 17‑week program (a February session), while customized “reverse assessment” or waiver pathways can take 1.5–2 years.

Board members and residents raised practical constraints, including whether a level‑2 officer could legally serve as chief and the intermittent hours currently supplied by local officers. One resident framed the situation bluntly to officers in the room: “You’re a police department of 1,” underscoring local concern about a single on‑duty officer handling calls and case backlog.

Discussion also covered mutual‑aid options. Manager Jeff reported sending a revised memorandum of understanding (MOU) to the Berlin Police Department to govern outside assistance; the board received a live statement from Berlin’s chief (speaker S9), who said he had not heard directly from Jeff and therefore had decided not to proceed until communications were clarified: “I have not heard anything from Jeff directly… I didn’t want to go forward with Northfield because of the lack of communication,” the Berlin chief said.

After that exchange the board took a straw‑poll and instructed the chair and manager to reestablish communications with Berlin’s manager and select board chair, and to ask VLCT and Montpelier to prepare proposals for interim coverage and an executive search. Board members also urged contacting previous finalists for the chief job (including a prior runner‑up, referenced in the meeting as Mihai Gomez and Matt Romeo) and encouraged support for current local officers to enroll in the February academy cohort.

Officials emphasized process and transparency: several board members favored forming an appointed citizen advisory/search committee to provide local input during a consultant‑led recruitment rather than creating a new chartered oversight board. The manager said he would pursue VLCT involvement and follow up with Berlin and Montpelier.

The meeting closed after the board confirmed next steps and moved to adjourn. (A motion to adjourn was made, seconded and adopted by voice vote.)