Windham County Sheriff's Department
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By HOWARD WEISS-TISMAN, Reformer Staff
Brattleboro Reformer

Municipal Manager John Schempf allegedly asked interim Police Chief John Dunfee to search the system to help Schempf argue a speeding ticket he got in Bennington, according to the Department of Public Safety.

The news that the BFPD had violated the state's computer records system was the latest in a long list of issues facing the department.

Last month Dunfee announced that the village was going unprotected for periods due to short staffing, while at the same time overtime was piling up as Dunfee tried to cover law enforcement in the village.

This week, Dunfee announced that he was resigning and the Vermont State Police has been called in to investigate three seperate incidents within the department.

The police chief position has been offered to a candidate and the village is waiting to announce his name after a background check is completed.

The latest allegations about misuse of the computer system led to Dunfee's password and access to the statewide law enforcement computer database being disabled for three months as a result of the investigation.

The department, as well, will not be able to view case information from other departments because of the alleged violation of the information system.

Both sanctions took effect on Aug. 2.

Schempf said that when he asked Dunfee for information about the number of speeding tickets issued in Bennington, he did not expect the interim chief to get the information illegally.

But according to Dunfee, when Schempf first asked him for the numbers, Schempf never mentioned that he was battling a speeding ticket.

"It was wrong, and if I could do it again I would probably say 'no,' and not put myself in this position," Dunfee said. "But I was the interim police chief and when the town manager asks you to do something, you do it."

Schempf admitted that he did not talk to Dunfee about the ticket until after the data was obtained.

He also said that it probably would have been better to not ask a publicly paid employee who worked under him to get involved in his private affairs.

"What I did, I wanted to prove that this was speed trap," Schempf said. "I asked Sgt. Dunfee to find out how many tickets were written that weekend. That's all. I could have gotten the information through the traffic court. I did not ask him to violate procedures. I should have gotten the information myself."

Schempf has been serving as the interim town manager in Bellows Falls and is set to move on once the new manager takes over.

Rockingham officials will interview the three finalists later this month, and the new Rockingham town manager could be introduced within the coming weeks.

In a letter to Dunfee, Schempf and village President Clark Barber, Criminal Justice Services Director Francis Aumand called the village's "use and dissemination of the information from the Bennington Police Department without their consent a serious violation of the VIBRS user agreement."

The Vermont Incident-Based Reporting System (VIBRS) is an online records management system, which was started in 1991.

Most of state's law enforcement agencies, along with University of Vermont police and Fish & Wildlife, use the records system.

"The inappropriate dissemination of information contained within the CAD system threatens the system's openness and sharing capabilities," Aumand wrote in his letter. "Misuse of information from this system may adversely effect privacy matters and potentially cause embarrassment to police agencies."

The incident began on Feb. 18, when Sgt. David Dutcher of the Bennington Police Department wrote Schempf a $212 speeding ticket at noon for going 68 mph in a 45 mph zone.

According to state records, Dutcher was initially contacted by Dunfee on Schempf's behalf for some consideration on the ticket.

An April 27 hearing was scheduled in Bennington and Schempf decided against accepting a plea agreement on that date.

At a later hearing, Schempf asked Dutcher about how many tickets he had written that day and that weekend.

When Dutcher said that he did not know, Schempf produced detailed logs about the Bennington Police Department's activity during that time.

The hearing officer reduced Schempf's fine to $45, but Dutcher was perplexed about where Schempf might have obtained the information.

Shortly after the hearing, Bennington Police Lt. Paul Doucette and Chief Richard Gauthier attended a training session at the Vermont Police Academy with Dunfee.

Dunfee told the Bennington officers that he had accessed the state information system to help Schempf with his case in traffic court, according to state records.

The Bennington Police Department contacted the Department of Criminal Justice about the incident.

Gauthier, Bennington's police chief, said the information could have been obtained by request, or it could have been tracked down through some legwork.

His department got involved, he said, when his officers realized that Schempf had obtained the information through the misuse of the state computer system

"From what we know, this information was found through VIBRS. It could have been found some other way, but that didn't happen," Gauthier said.

Abuse of the VIBRS system recently led to another local police officer losing his privileges.

Former Brattleboro police officer Terry Parker accessed the network earlier this summer to obtain information about the Brattleboro Police Department, which he then used in his own defense at a grievance hearing. Parker allegedly entered the Vernon Police Department, where he worked as a part-time officer, and used its computer to download damaging information about the Brattleboro department.

Parker's VIBRS access was revoked shortly thereafter and the Vernon department had its locks changed.

Aumand, the director of Criminal Justice Services, served as chief of the Bellows Falls Police Department from 1983-1990.

Aumand said it is part of his responsibility to watch over the state computer information network, but he said it has been especially troubling to learn about the activity within his former department.

"I do not like to see these problems with any police department in the state, but the issues in Bellows Falls are close to me," said Aumand. "By the same token, we collectively are obligated to police ourselves. In this case, the privacy and confidentiality of a department is at issue through the sharing of electronic information. In this case, the confidential rights of a police department were violated."

Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at hwtisman@reform-er.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 279.