VERGENNES — Ferrisburgh’s Hoehl Foundation recently donated $10,000 to the Vergennes Police Department, according to Vergennes Police Chief George Merkel.
Merkel said a foundation representative told him a member of the foundation’s board had recommended the department for the award. A letter that arrived with the donation stated the award was “in honor of the good relationship the Vergennes Police Department has with their community and the tremendous work that they do.”
Merkel said the department has used the donation to help pay for training for its officers, including in “Interview and Positive Persuasion” and “Verbal Judo De-Escalation,” for use of force training equipment, a motor vehicle enforcement and firearms training equipment trailer, a biological evidence storage refrigerator, wellness equipment, and installation of body camera systems in cruisers.
In action between Feb. 1 and 7, Vergennes police performed 16 motorized and one foot patrols, continued follow-up investigations on previous criminal incidents, and also:
On Feb. 3 participated in an Addison County Project Vision North planning meeting.
On Feb. 4:
•  Participated as a board member of the Vermont Governor’s Law Enforcement Advisory Board regarding a state body camera policy.
•  Participated in the Vermont Criminal Justice Council’s Training Advisory Committee.
•  Issued a no trespass order to a resident on behalf of a Main Street business.
•  Told a man not to continue to call a Booth Woods resident with whom he had previously been in a relationship.
On Feb. 6 ticketed the driver of a vehicle and issued court-diversion paperwork to a passenger following a complaint from another motorist that the two had “waved their hands out the window of the vehicle they were in as if they held pistols” while driving on Panton Road.
Police stopped the vehicle at the Champlain Farms store on Main Street and cited the driver for operating a motor vehicle while his license was under suspension civilly, and gave the court paperwork to the passenger for underage drinking after a preliminary breath test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.085%.