Vermont Governor Phil Scott Monday signed into law a bill requiring all police in the state to wear body cameras and prohibiting the use of chokeholds.

The bipartisan legislation passed unanimously by the state’s General Assembly makes illegal “the use of any maneuver on a person that applies pressure to the neck, throat, windpipe, or carotid artery that may prevent or hinder breathing, reduce intake of air, or impede the flow of blood or oxygen to the brain.” Any officer who is found to have administered a prohibited restraint that causes serious bodily injury or death may be sentenced to serve up to 20 years in prison and pay up to a $50,000 fine.

The legislation includes a detailed legislative history section that describes the state’s reforms over the past seven years aimed at addressing “systemic racism and disproportionate use of force by law enforcement.” The law expresses the intent of the General Assembly to commit to working on addressing six key issues:

• Increasing the resources to and authority of the Executive Director of Racial Equity;
• Determining whether or not to move the Criminal Justice Training Council to the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Safety;
• Consulting with State Government stakeholders to evaluate the continued appropriateness of the provisions of the new law which prohibit certain types of restraint, the justifiable homicide statute, and the statute governing the duties of peace officers;
• Evaluating whether and how to gather data regarding the interactions between law enforcement and people with mental health issues;
• Reviewing the Law Enforcement Advisory Board and ACLU model policies governing law enforcement use of body cameras and development of a statewide policy for adoption before October 1, 2020; and
• Considering recommendations that come forward through a process of meaningful community engagement, particularly with impacted, marginalized, and vulnerable communities.

Additionally, beginning August 1, 2020, all grant funding for law enforcement agencies covered under the new law will be contingent on the agency collecting data on police roadside stops. The data will track the age, gender, and race of the driver, the reason for the stop, specific grounds for any searches performed, evidence located (if any), and a detailed outcome of the stop that includes descriptions of any type of physical force used or threatened.

Vermont’s legislation comes weeks following the passage of a US House bill aimed at addressing police accountability, over a month after police in many cities utilized questionable tactics in response to nationwide protests against racism and police brutality prompted by the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, and closely coincides with a surge in national attention on strengthening community policing efforts.