Despite there being no formal announcement to the campus community on who was appointed as the new police chief, UVM recently removed their public job listings for the position. 

Tim Bilodeau was officially selected as UVM’s new police chief March 6 after several months of searching.

Since it was an internal hire, and Bilodeau had already been serving as interim chief, the appointment was shared only with deans, administrative directors and academic department chairs stated an April 15 email from Enrique Corredera,  UVM spokesperson.

The exclusive announcement was sent out in a March 6 email from Al Turgeon, chief risk and public safety officer.

Bilodeau does not know why the announcement of his appointment was not made to all of campus, he said.

“This is our typical process,” Corredera’s email stated. “Not all appointments get announced to the entire campus.”

Bilodeau has held many positions in the department since joining in 1987. He was appointed acting chief of police in July 2019 while former Chief Leanne Tuomey was on paid leave and served as interim chief of police starting November 2019 upon Tuomey’s retirement.

Tuomey has since been hired again by UVM as a senior adviser for safety and security.

Bilodeau did not necessarily expect his appointment to the position, due to the ways that hiring processes work, he said.

“You’re not in control of processes, you’re not in control of the final outcome,” he said. “You’re in control of what you do for work, what you do for your community connections and your relationships.”

Bilodeau thinks he was qualified due to a variety of things including his experience and education, he said.

He found the best part about the interview and employment process to be the opportunity to speak to many different faculty groups on campus and get to know the campus community better by sharing the goals that UVM Police strives to achieve, he said.

“I think I’m prompted with those topics all the time, that’s really my job,” Bilodeau said. “But I think the employment process is always an opportunity to speak to that.”

Some things Bilodeau wants to continue to focus on as chief are things like offering quality services, tightening oversight on investigations and hiring, in addition to the more pressing issue of ensuring security when it comes to the COVID-19, he said.

Bilodeau said he also looks forward to continuing to offer less traditional and more modern police duties during his time as chief, such as supporting students by connecting them with mental health resources when need be.