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Bennington police chief opposes charter wording that could allow outside board access to personnel files
Summary
Police Chief Paul Vietkette told the Government Operations & Military Affairs committee that a proposed charter amendment (H.693) could give a delegated board overly broad access to personnel files and other sensitive materials; he supports civilian review but urged clearer, narrower language.
Bennington Police Chief Paul Vietkette told the House Government Operations & Military Affairs committee that he supports civilian review but opposes proposed charter language in H.693 that he said could be read to allow outside boards to access officers' personnel files.
"I don't believe that they have the right to go into an officer's personnel file," Vietkette said, arguing the bill's phrasing about delegating authority to a review body to examine "video footage, transcripts, and other materials" is too vague and could expose personally identifying information. He described current practice in Bennington as one that redacts complainant and officer names before providing…
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