STATE OF VERMONT

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

VERMONT STATE POLICE

TRANSFER ANNOUNCEMENT - COMMANDER, WILLISTON BARRACKS

DATE:                          May 23, 2022

FROM:                         Col. Matthew T.  Birmingham, director

TRANSFER:                  Lieutenant/Williston Field Station Commander

Col. Matthew T. Birmingham, director of the Vermont State Police, is pleased to announce the following transfer:

Lt. Debra Munson, commander of the Derby Field Station, to commander of the Williston Field Station.

Lt. Munson has served the people of Vermont since beginning her career with the state police in January 2011. Following graduation from the Vermont Police Academy in July 2011, she was assigned as a trooper to the Derby Barracks, where she worked until she was transferred in January 2017 as a detective trooper in the Criminal Division to the St. Johnsbury Barracks. She was promoted in May 2017 to sergeant/patrol commander at the Derby Barracks. She became a lieutenant and commander of the Derby Barracks in November 2020.

In addition to those assignments, Lt. Munson served on the Vermont State Police Tactical Services Unit from 2014-16, and is commander of the Members Assistance Team. She also is an instructor on use of force and defensive tactics for the Vermont State Police and at the Vermont Police Academy in Pittsford.

A Vermont State Police field station commander is responsible for overseeing the delivery of law enforcement services to the communities patrolled by that station’s troopers. Field station commanders are the local representative of the Vermont State Police to the community they serve, and they work with local officials and residents to address public safety and law enforcement concerns in their service areas.

The Williston Barracks provides police coverage throughout Chittenden and Lamoille counties. In Chittenden County, troopers provide primary law enforcement services for the towns of Bolton, Buels Gore, Charlotte, Huntington, Jericho, St. George, Underhill, and Westford. The station also provides assistance as requested to local police departments including Burlington, Colchester, Essex, Hinesburg, Milton, Richmond, Shelburne, South Burlington, Williston, and Winooski, along with the Chittenden County Sheriff’s Department and the University of Vermont Police Department. The Williston Barracks patrols 40 miles of interstate highways within Chittenden County.

The Williston Barracks also oversees an outpost office in Cambridge that is responsible for police coverage in the Lamoille County communities of Belvidere, Cambridge, Eden, Elmore, and Waterville. Troopers also provide assistance as requested to local law enforcement agencies including the Morristown and Stowe police departments and the Lamoille County Sheriff’s Department.

The barracks is home to the Vermont State Police Special Operations and the Northern Vermont Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). Many state police special teams vehicles are housed at the barracks.

Lt. Munson succeeds Lt. Tara Thomas, who has transferred to headquarters as a detective lieutenant to become commander of the Technology Investigation Unit. At the Derby Barracks, Andrew Jensen has been named acting lieutenant and barracks commander.

Lt. Munson can be reached at the Williston Barracks at 802-878-7111 or by email at debra.munson@vermont.gov. The effective date of the transfer and other personnel changes noted above was May 22, 2022.

To find out more about the Williston Barracks, visit https://vsp.vermont.gov/stations/williston.

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