Gov. Phil Scott delivered his public safety package Wednesday for this legislative session.It included rolling back policies passed in recent years and holding repeat offenders more accountable.Scott said one of the most common things he hears from Vermonters is they don’t feel safe anymore, whether that’s in small towns or larger cities. He told us he’d filed an executive order to change the Department of Public Safety to the Agency of Public Safety, which would make it the eighth state agency.He says not much would change but it acknowledges that their having to do more work than ever, whether it’s dealing with crime, emergency management, or cybersecurity. The legislature has 90 days to announce if they disagree with the order, those close to Democratic house leadership said they don’t have a stance yet, when asked a couple of hours after the announcement. Scott said his package will come in the form of one broad bill, which will include policy to hold repeat offenders more accountable.”We see too many arrested and then released the very same day without any real consequences,” Scott said. In addition he wants to repeal the “Raise the Age” initiative which would move most charges for 19 year old’s to family court, and is set to start towards the end of April. “A lot of it is in terms of facility to house them because we don’t have one now, and we can’t intermingle them with a younger population,” Scott said. His administration also discussed removing the power of judges when it comes to reducing or suspending sentences in certain cases. “We propose limiting the ability of a judge to reduce or suspend the sentence of a person convicted of more then one violent crime,” said Jaye Johnson, who is counsel for Scott. The policy ideas are at a time when Vermont has seen another year with over 20 homicide victims, and assault reports and other crimes on the rise. “Reports of theft from motor vehicle, thefts of motor vehicles, identity theft and shoplifting have all more then doubled between 2018 and 2023,” Tucker Jones of the Dept. of Public Safety said. Scott said the laws he wants in place aren’t necessarily about putting more in jail, the state’s corrections commissioner saying they’re already over capacity, but to show there’s consequences, which he thinks will help curb crime in the state.”There’s nothing holding them accountable now; they can continue to re-offend, and they can continue to get released, so why would they do everything different. If we can hold them accountable at least until they’ve been tried, I think that will provide a deterrent for the future,” Scott said. This is the first of what is four expected packages from the governor, the other three being housing, education and affordability.
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