Public safety workers over the limits
At least eight public safety workers have been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving so far this year — a number state prosecutors and law enforcement officials are calling "unique" and troubling.
These officials include police officers, firefighters, a Vermont State Police trooper, a Department of Homeland Security law enforcement supervisor and a Vermont Probation and Parole officer, a Burlington Free Press investigation found.
All cases involve allegations of first offense driving under the influence. Two of the cases involve impaired driving while on duty. In one case, prosecutors say an impaired off-duty police officer caused a crash that killed a man.
Through August, three of the cases have settled, with officials pleading guilty to drunken driving.
The number of public safety officials arrested this year is "concerning," Assistant Attorney General John Treadwell and Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn agreed. But they said they had little reason to believe the incidents represent a growing trend.
"It seems like an unusually high number," Treadwell said. The Free Press during its investigation brought this year's number of DUI arrests involving public safety workers to the attention of Treadwell and Flynn.
In 2013 and 2014, there appeared to be a small number of impaired-driving arrests involving public safety officials, with one to three people arrested and charged, according to local media reports and archives.
State statistics from the Vermont Crime Information Center from 2010 to 2013 show that DUI numbers statewide have stayed between 2,600 and 2,800 annually. Statistics for 2014 were not available online, and VCIC director Jeff Wallin could not be reached last week.
This year, the following public safety officials have been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving:
•Former Rutland City Police Officer Justin Barrell.
James Hart of the Bethel Volunteer Fire Department. Hart was responding to a crash scene when he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.
•Probation and Parole Officer Andre Laliberte.
•South Burlington Police Lt. Jeffrey Martel.
•Law enforcement supervisor for Department of Homeland Security John F. Peters.
•Former Rutland-based Vermont State Trooper Eric Rademacher. Rademacher was on-call the morning of the suspected intoxication, and court papers show he allegedly responded to a crash while intoxicated.
•David Roberts of the Burlington Fire Department.
•Burlington Police Officer Leanne Werner. Werner is accused of crossing the center line on Lower Newton Road in St. Albans and crashing into a car with two occupants, killing the driver Omer Martin, 74. She has pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol with death resulting. If convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison and $15,000 in fines.
Why are the people who respond to crashes that involve alcohol or arrest those driving under the influence doing it themselves?
Local therapist Sonny Provetto — a former police officer who provides care to current officers and other public safety workers — said the relationship between policing and alcohol is longstanding. Police use alcohol as a coping mechanism, he said, after experiencing traumatic events.
In turn, alcohol negatively affects judgment and decision-making.
"It's no secret that officers cope with what they see on the job by using alcohol, which is legal and acceptable," Provetto said. "Part of the culture has basically looked the other way. I'm talking in general terms here. ... We know that police officers use alcohol twice as much as the general population."
Silent sufferers
Provetto has been involved since the 1990s in attempting to reverse the culture of officers' avoiding help when they need assistance. A stigma exists in the public safety world where many believe seeking help is a sign of weakness.
Officers also are trained to manage high-stress situations, which sometimes lowers their awareness or willingness to handle any personal struggles they might be experiencing. That can lead to self-medication, Provetto said.
"If you think about every time a police officer in Vermont has responded to either a bank robbery, school shooting or these fatalities on the interstate, these officers perform exceptionally well," Provetto said. "We see them suffer in silence."
Provetto said these public safety officials may avoid showing both coworkers and spouses that the fatality affected them, and turn to alcohol instead.
Vermont is ahead of the curve in providing help for police officers, Provetto said. The Burlington Police Department and the Vermont State Police have programs that provide education, training and intervention for employees. The Department of Corrections and the Department for Children and Families also have contacted Provetto to discuss setting up similar programs, the therapist added.
"Less than 2 percent of all police departments in the U.S. have a program like the one we have going here in Vermont," Provetto said.
Stress is less of the problem for public safety officials — the real issue is trauma, Provetto said. He considers trauma a psychological injury. And if trauma builds up, that affects how public safety officials interact with the world around them.
Several situations, Provetto said, are particularly harmful to police officers psychologically: taking someone's life in the line of duty, and any case involving children, including suicides, sexual assaults and neglect.
"Eight months into my own career, I almost shot a teenager who had a knife," Provetto said, adding he now avoids visiting the area of Burlington where the incident took place. Provetto first worked as a Burlington police officer, and then a Vermont State Police trooper.
He added that "95 percent of what cops do is boring. We drive around the car. We do sort of mundane service complaints. Then that other 5 percent is sheer terror.
"You'll have an officer who will be driving around on a beautiful day like today, and then 10 seconds later will be responding to a domestic violence situation involving a gun."
From coping to DUI
Most officers choose to self-medicate with alcohol in their own living rooms, which can lead to other issues such as addiction and even suicide, Provetto said.
However, as shown by the eight cases this year, some public safety officials get into a car and attempt to drive. Provetto said, speaking generally, that alcohol lowers a person's capacity to make good decisions.
"The first thing we need to do is to still educate our police officers about addiction and alcohol," Provetto said. He added, "When you mix alcohol with driving, I think we know as a society that doesn't work. These people are just human, and they're people who have given up a piece of themselves to do this public service. I think that's what people forget."
Although Vermont is a leader in treating officers who have experienced trauma, Provetto said there is work to do in preventing alcohol dependence and addiction. Provetto continues to work to get the word out to public safety workers that help is out there, and it's okay to ask for it.
Provetto works with officers one-on-one to try to unpack some of the trauma and lighten the weight of the job. He has also brought in mindfulness coaches and yoga instructors to some departments. The Burlington Police Department also encourages fitness activities while officers are on duty as a stress-management technique.
"The best way to combat this is to invest in your people," Provetto said. "Incorporating partners from the community – yoga instructors, mindfulness trainers, some of your local gyms and dieticians – all of that stuff helps build up a resilient organization."
State reaction
Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn said he is concerned that eight public safety officials have been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Still, he added, the officials are human. They should be provided the resources and education to deal with mental health issues or alcohol addiction that might lead to these actions, Flynn said.
"Part of our mission certainly has to be that we have people who are prepared to handle both the physical and mental requirements of the job while they're on the job, and also find releases when they're not working," Flynn said. "That's a modern policing approach that I think not only I'm cognizant of, but many other leaders of law enforcement agencies in this state are also thinking about those."
Flynn said he believes the stigma in law enforcement around seeking help has diminished, but there is more progress that can be made. The Vermont State Police have contracted counselors for times when troopers experience trauma, he said.
Assistant Attorney General John Treadwell believes the punishment in place for public safety officials who commit a crime works as designed: rehabilitates and punishes in an appropriate way, while deterring the person from committing the crime again.
For example, Vermont Probation and Parole Officer Andre Laliberte received the maximum fine of $750 in exchange for pleading guilty to DUI in St. Johnsbury. He will have to take a drinking driver assessment course before earning his license back, Treadwell said.
"They are a public official, they are a representative of the government as a whole, and it is something we consider when we decide what we believe an appropriate resolution of the case is," Treadwell said. "I think you can draw a conclusion from the fact that the one case we have been involved in resolving is a maximum fine."
aliberte resigned voluntarily in May.
Flynn and Treadwell agreed that this year's higher number of public safety arrests is an anomaly.
"It's disturbing, certainly, that people in law enforcement, who have in many cases a first-hand knowledge of what driving under the influence can do, that that would be a choice that would be made," Flynn said. "That's also a view I hold in regard to anyone who operates a motor vehicle when they're under the influence of alcohol, under the influence of a drug, or both."
Cases settled so far
Three of the eight cases this year have ended in settlements.
Treadwell said Laliberte, 40, pleaded guilty in June. Police said his blood alcohol content was 0.196 percent at the time of the March 11 incident.
The legal limit for drivers is 0.08 percent.
South Burlington Police Lt. Jeffrey Martel, 48, of Colchester pleaded guilty to DUI at his arraignment in April. Martel, a department veteran, was ordered to pay $652 in fines and surcharges, complete the CRASH drinking driver assessment course, and his driver's license was suspended for 90 days.
Martel was also suspended without pay from the department for 20 work days, and his pay rate was reduced by 7 percent when he returned because he was unable to perform all job functions, specifically driving a car.
The Colchester Police Department, which arrested Martel, said he registered a BAC of 0.113 percent.
Department of Homeland Security law enforcement supervisor John F. Peters was sentenced earlier in August after he pleaded guilty in St. Albans to DUI. A charge of leaving the scene of a crash was dismissed. He was sentenced to pay $707 in fines and surcharges, complete CRASH and the DUI reparative board, and to perform 10 hours of community service. He also will be on probation for one to three months.
Homeland Security failed to respond to multiple requests for comment this month about Peters' employment status or about the case in general.
Court papers show Peters registered a 0.204 percent BAC during his preliminary roadside breath test at least five hours after the crash. An court-admissible test completed 45 minutes later reflected a 0.106 percent BAC.
All other cases remain pending in court. The maximum sentence for a first offense of driving under the influence is up to two years in prison or up to $750 in fines or both. The maximum sentence for driving under the influence with death resulting is one to 15 years in prison or a fine of up to $10,000 or both.
Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LizMurraySMC.