Former state police detective permanently banned from Vermont law enforcement

A former Vermont State Police detective sentenced to probation a year ago on three misdemeanor convictions has now been permanently banned from serving as a law enforcement officer in Vermont.

The Vermont Criminal Justice Council took the action to decertify Zachary Gauthier following a hearing Tuesday. Gauthier previously received a suspended jail sentence and two years probation at his sentencing in June 2023.

He earlier had pleaded guilty to violating an abuse prevention order, providing false information to a law enforcement officer and violating the conditions of his pretrial release.

As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, a fourth misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty was dismissed.

Gauthier, who was assigned to the Westminster barracks, resigned from the state police in April 2022 as the criminal investigation against him was ongoing and has not worked for a law enforcement agency since that time, according to council records.

The vote to permanently decertify Gauthier from law enforcement was unanimously approved, according to a council press release.
So far this year, the council has decertified four law enforcement officers in Vermont. In 2023, according to council records , six officers were decertified and one officer was issued a reprimand.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Former state police detective permanently banned from Vermont law enforcement .