BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Rank and file police in Burlington says there is a lack of support from city leadership. The police union says the lack of political support directly correlates with the department’s struggle to recruit new officers.
The Burlington Police Officers’ Association is airing its concerns when it comes to the public perception of law enforcement in the Queen City.
In a letter sent to the Burlington City Council, union officials are calling on city leaders to speak out. “We’re losing more officers than we’re gaining and that is obviously not sustainable,” said City Councilor Joan Shannon, D-South.
The department is currently operating with about two-thirds of the officers it had five years ago. The union blames it on the political climate that has existed since Progressives on the council voted in 2020 to defund the force by 30 percent.
In a two-page letter sent to city councilors, the association says they polled new recruits at the Vermont Police Academy and that 17 said they lived in Chittenden County. But when asked if they applied to Burlington… “None of them had — which was really concerning. And they dug a little bit deeper and asked them why. And the answer was they didn’t feel that they would be supported,” Shannon said.
The letter says “…the perception of the city, the City Council, and the mayor’s office is a major deterrent for people who live in the area and want to pursue law enforcement careers to serve their local communities.”
Since the 2020 vote, the council has reversed course on staffing levels and Progressive Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney Stanak notes that the city has made significant investments in the department. “It included investing $100,000 in addition to what we already spend on recruitment strategies for just the police department. It includes investing in both the police and fire and increasing those operational budgets when every other budget in the city was capped and was not allowed to grow — and froze positions in order to do so,” she said.
But so far those efforts have done little to rebuild the force. The current class at the academy class had four Burlington Police recruits, but that number has now dropped to two. There was only one in the last class.
This also comes as Burlington voters consider a proposed charter change that would give the police commission the power to investigate officer misconduct — and override the chief’s findings. Chief Jon Murad last week expressed concerns that the measure would hurt morale and recruitment efforts even more.