State lawmakers and the family of a man fatally shot by Vermont State Police laid out a series of reforms on Thursday they say could help address a longstanding pattern of police shooting people in the midst of a mental health crisis.
Scott Garvey, 55, struggled with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia for most of his adult life. This summer Scott, along with his two dogs and parakeet, moved to Putney, in part, because his family thought he’d have better access to mental health care.
Less than a week after moving to Vermont, state troopers responded to the apartment Scott shared with his 84-year-old mother after police said he made threatening comments and scared his neighbors, according to police records.
After an hours-long standoff, police entered the house and shot Scott after one of the troopers believed he saw Scott holding a firearm. No guns were found in the house.
“My brother wasn't a threat — the police were told multiple times, yet they chose to escalate the situation,” said Kara Garvey, Scott’s sister, at Thursday’s press conference.
The state has made previous attempts to prevent these tragedies, by embedding social workers in law enforcement agencies and passing new use of force laws, though advocates say the results have been mixed.
“Nothing will bring my brother back, but it is about creating real support for other families whose loved ones are killed in mistaken or avoidable police shootings,” said Shawn Garvey, Scott’s older brother.
To become a fully certified law enforcement officer in Vermont, recruits complete eight hours of training on responding to mental health calls. The proposed bill, H.613, would increase that to 15 hours and mandate retraining every two years.
“I can’t help but wonder if the Vermont State Police had more than eight hours of mental health training, maybe my son Scott might be alive today,” said Judy Garvey, Scott’s mother. “That day they didn’t just kill my son, they broke me.”
The bill would also put mental health crisis de-escalation techniques that are part of the state’s use of force policy into statute.
“We're hoping, with a higher level of legality, it might reinforce some of those steps along the way,” said Rep. Michelle Bos-Lun, the lead sponsor of the bill.
Ken Hawkins, deputy director at the Vermont Police Academy, said Thursday they were looking at how the proposals might impact current police training and declined further comment.
The final proposal in the bill would allow those injured or killed by the police, and their immediate families, to access more victims services, like funds to help clean up the scene of shooting. The Garveys said they spent thousands of dollars cleaning up their brother’s blood from his apartment after the shooting, an experience they described as a “second victimization."
The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee for an initial review.
“The bill, H.613, is a step forward protecting families like ours,” Judy said. “From the agony and the grief we have endured, because no one should lose their son like this, not in Vermont, not anywhere in this country.”
Vermont State Police have finished their investigation of Scott’s death and forwarded it to the attorney general’s office and a county prosecutor for review. A spokesperson for the attorney general declined to comment.
