Stephen Bates

Biography

Stephen Bates (1842 – June 10, 1907) was an American law enforcement officer who served as sheriff and Police Chief of the city of Vergennes, Vermont, for 25 years between 1879 and 1907. He was the first Black chief law enforcement officer in Vermont, also the only one for 140 years, until 2020. Additionally, Bates was almost certainly the first Black Sheriff elected outside the Reconstruction-era South.

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