This southern Vermont village is back in the hunt for a new police chief after the man chosen for the job declined it.
Russell “Rusty” O’Dell, a retired police chief from Cornwall, N.Y., told Municipal Manager John Schempf on Thursday that because of concerns about the department’s budget and the perception that officers give inside information to the media, he won’t take it.
The department has been rocked by problems lately. The state barred it from using a state information computer system, and the Department of Public Safety is conducting two separate investigations of it.
“Everyday you pick up the paper and read something else about the police,” said village Trustee Stefan Golec. “Obviously, we’re in bad shape. I think we need to catch our breath and spend time and make the right decision. I guess the search goes on.”