Crime and the Court System in Vermont
Ask anyone in Vermont who isn't blinded by Liberal agenda about the crime in Vermont, and you'll likely hear comments ranging from disgust to outright anger, and often those comments will come from victims of some sort of crime within the last couple of years.
Crimes statistics from year to year are available at https://vcic.vermont.gov/calendar-years-2021-2029 and actually show up through 2023. I guess the Vermont Department of Public Safety, Vermont Crime Information Center is a little overwhelmed.
Of their two categories, in 2023, they reported "Group ‘A’ crimes increased by 5.15% when compared to 2022. The most notable statistical increases reported were Crimes Against Society, which consists of Drug/Narcotic Offenses, Human Trafficking, Prostitution, Weapons Law Violations, Pornography/Obscene Materials, and Animal Cruelty, up from 1,319 to 1,524 offenses in 2023; Drug/Narcotic Offenses, up 14.64% to 1,245 offenses; and Larceny/Theft Offenses (combined), up 9.54% to 10,402 offenses." These numbers are populated when a law enforcement agency takes a report of a crime.
Group 'B' crimes show a decrease in crime, however statistics are generated only when an "actual arrest is made".
What is the cause of this? For starters, ACLU of Vermont and "criminal rights activists" or bleeding hearts, enacted Act 164, Bail Reform. And Act 125, and Act 178 with a number of drug related changes to Vermont law.
The bail reform was intended to lessen the population of Vermont prisons by letting free people that couldn't post bail. Information shows 6 years later that this is not the case and only releases repeat offenders, tying up the courts.
Act 125. Contributes to the increase in crime by allowing immunity from prosecution if requesting help for someone else. Therefore, causing no accountability for their crimes.
And I would be amiss if I didn't include Act 178 (Safe Injection Sites) which was passed sadly after the Democrat Supermajority overrode
But what about those who are innocent?
This is a question that hits home with me. In January of 2022, I was arrested for Felony Grand Larceny. A crime I didn't commit and one I had evidence proving my innocence of. So let me tell you what happens when someone like me gets trapped in an overwhelmed system.
You first go to your arraignment, and if you're like me, and never committed a crime, you're scared as hell. The Judge reads the charges and through your lawyer you plead guilty or not guilty.
The State's Attorney doesn't like not guilty pleas as they will have to try the case adding to caseload. So, they'll discuss a plea deal. Essentially you admit guild for a lesser penalty. I wasn't guilty and wouldn't say I was.
Over the next three and a half years I would go to a "pretrial conference" where we said we were ready to go to trial. Then to a jury draw. Four times I went to a jury draw. Only to be told it wasn't happening because they had "priority cases" to go to trial.
Let that sink in. Three and a half years of legal fees, depression, loss of credibility, etc. Because they "had priority cases". Or rather wanted me to take a plea deal so they could clear my case. My life fell apart because of the system in place. And I'm willing to bet I'm not the only person to deal with this.
So much for the right to a speedy trial.
Vermont needs an overhaul of the legal system and to eliminate laws that allow repeat offenders to stay on the streets with this catch and release mentality. And to truly protect the rights of the innocent.
*My case was dropped in June of 2025 when they must have finally looked at my file and saw what I had for evidence.
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Public Safety Issues
Vermont is still in the middle of a drug epidemic. It can't be called a "heroin epidemic" as it has expanded to include other forms of synthetic opioids. So what has Vermont's Democratic heavy congress done to address this?
In short, they've basically legalized opioid use. How so?
Vermont Act 178 (Vetoed by our Governor and overrode by Liberal Democrats) established "safe injection sites". Places that allow habitual drug users to break the law by using illegal drugs.
It also allows distribution of syringes to users.
In FY 2025 $1.1 million in tax money was appropriated to funding grants to the City of Burlington to establish these "safe injection sites".
2025 Vermont Statutes Title 18 Health Chapter 84 - Possession and Control of Regulated Drugs § 4254. Reporting a drug overdose; immunity from liability has established that someone who reports an overdose is immune from legal action. Supposedly this is supposed to reduce deaths from overdose due to fear of prosecution. In reality someone is likely going to report an overdose anyhow, as they may need that assistance in the future.
Along with this are numbers showing that opioid overdoses have declined somewhat. These numbers are skewed as Narcan (Naloxone), a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, is handed out free on taxpayer money. Overdoses that are treated in this manner are not recorded. And in truth it's not possible to record these incidents, but not doing so would be no different than your local fire department reversing an overdose but the patient refusing transport to the hospital afterwards, which happens very often.