A state panel is abandoning plans to impose more consistent rules on police officers who pursue fleeing suspects.
Car chases are among the most dangerous police maneuvers. Bystanders, suspects and officers have been killed during pursuits in Vermont, including a 2023 chase in Rutland in which a suspect fatally struck 19-year-old department trainee Jessica Ebbighausen.
But unlike for some other high-risk tactics — such as using physical force or deploying Tasers — Vermont police do not share a common set of standards that dictate when vehicle pursuits are appropriate.
The Law Enforcement Advisory Board, a cross-department panel that makes recommendations to state lawmakers and the governor, began looking into the issue in 2024, citing “recent events in Vermont and nationwide.” Then-chair Shawn Burke wrote in a report to lawmakers that the board planned to draft a statewide “model policy” in 2025.
That didn’t happen. Burke left the board when he was appointed interim police chief in Burlington. The new chair, retired South Burlington police chief Trevor Whipple, said member turnover and low meeting attendance stymied the panel’s work. He told Seven Days in December 2025 that the board planned to return to the issue in January.
Board members did revisit the matter at their first meeting of 2026 — and swiftly dispatched it.
The 17 members decided “by consensus” not to develop a statewide policy after all, according to minutes of their Jan. 12 meeting. The meeting, which also included other discussion topics, lasted 41 minutes.
Board meetings are not recorded and written minutes are sparse, but Whipple said members expressed “too many diverging opinions, too many different needs” to warrant a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Departments in rural areas and urban centers don’t share the same concerns around pursuits, Whipple said.
The existing patchwork of policies seems to be working well, he added.
“We have a better culture here in Vermont than in many other states when it comes to chasing people and pursuing,” Whipple said.
Asked how he reached that conclusion, Whipple said he’s heard police officials from other states talk about “millions of dollars in insurance losses for cruiser crashes.” He hasn’t heard of similar stories in Vermont.
Burke, who said he has been involved in fatal police chases in Chittenden County during his career, still believes that a statewide policy could help limit the frequency and duration of pursuits, including those that cross town lines.
“There is value in having consistent rules,” he said.
An internal department review of the Ebbighausen crash in Rutland concluded that officers did not follow the department’s existing pursuit policy when they chased Tate Rheaume at high speeds through city streets.
The report, which outgoing chief Brian Kilcullen buried amid Rheaume’s ongoing prosecution, concluded that Ebbighausen’s death could have been prevented.
Ebbighausen was responding to assist another pursuing officer when Rheaume crossed the center line and struck her. He faces life in prison if convicted of aggravated murder.
Vermont State Police uses a restrictive policy for its troopers across the state. Chases are allowed only for suspects who are wanted for one of 12 serious felony crimes. Even then, troopers must assess the safety risks involved and end the pursuit once the danger of crash or injury “outweighs the necessity to apprehend the violator.”
Such restrictions don’t appeal to some others in Vermont law enforcement. Whipple said one sheriff, whom he did not identify, told him that he “didn’t want the community to sense that they’re going to just let people go.”
