New top cop takes over at Stowe Police Department

O’Steen’s hire ends a months-long search for a new chief, following the retirement of former police chief Don Hull in December. Town manager Charles Safford said it’s a new chapter for the department.

Before joining the Stowe Police Department, O’Steen worked for the United States Park Police in Washington, D.C. for 13 years. She was promoted several times during that time and held the position of sergeant, overseeing a squad of 22 officers when she moved to Vermont in 2015.

In Vermont, O’Steen worked for the University of Vermont Police Services for a year before starting her career in Stowe in 2016.

No full-time spots were available on Stowe’s force at the time, so O’Steen worked as a part-time officer until one became available. Meanwhile, she took on a full-time job as a paramedic with Stowe Emergency Medical Services, and in 2019, she was promoted to a full-time sergeant with the police department.

But her career veered back into emergency medicine. Last year, she went back to part-time with the police department to pursue a job as chief of Morristown’s emergency medical services. Her status with Stowe remained active and O’Steen said it’s been exciting to pursue the chief job in Stowe.

“Brooke is a skilled officer with 22 years in law enforcement,” Safford said. “She is an engaged leader who inspires her team to achieve their full potential. I am optimistic about what lies ahead under Brooke’s leadership as the new chief of Stowe PD.”

Although O’Steen is still settling into the chief role, she said what the department needs most right now is stability.

Hull oversaw a period of growth and change within the department during his tenure, but things became turbulent before his departure.

Last summer, Hull’s detective lieutenant Fred Whitcomb was briefly suspended and demoted for violating department and town regulations that disallowed inappropriately fraternizing with a subordinate. Whitcomb retired around the same time as Hull, leaving a leadership vacuum on the force that the town has been trying to fill since.

“I think we all just kind of need to get back to work, rise to a common standard and then move on from there,” O’Steen said. “There’s been a lot of movement, a lot of change with the department, and we just need to stabilize that.”

She addressed the Whitcomb situation directly, stating the town has a code of conduct that her department is held to.

“Everyone has the ability to make missteps or mistakes, and that’s just the nature of being human,” O’Steen said. “But we have a set of rules that we’re supposed to follow and in order to do that, we have to, one, be aware of the rules, and two, if we do break them, there has to be some accountability.”

O’Steen lives in Hardwick with her wife Lindsay and two dogs, Spud and Ally. She is the recipient of the Vermont Advanced Life Support Provider of the Year Award in 2022 and Law Enforcement Award in 2023.

Francis Gonyaw, who led the department as interim chief since Hull’s retirement, will now move into a part-time officer role with the department, where, next year, he’ll have served 40 years.