[B]URLINGTON — Police Chief Brandon del Pozo faced more than two hours of pointed questions from the City Council Monday night on the department’s use of force, with one councilor blaming del Pozo for the department’s shortcomings.
Councilor Ali Dieng said he would not vote for del Pozo’s re-appointment as chief in June during what is usually a routine process for top city appointees.
The department has been in the limelight after four black men filed federal lawsuits against the department alleging police brutality, and body camera footage from the incidents showed officers pushing and tackling the men.
One of the officers involved, Jason Bellavance, was suspended for less that three weeks and the another officer shown in the footage, Joe Corrow, was not suspended.
The Vermont State Police are also investigating the death of Burlington resident Douglas Kilburn, who died days after being punched by BPD officer Cory Campbell after Kilburn had punched him. When the medical examiner ruled Kilburn’s death a homicide, del Pozo and Weinberger contested the finding to state Health Commissioner Mark Levine hours before that finding was announced.
Del Pozo said that use of force by officers is rare, highlighting that any type of force was only used in 193 out of 30,000 total incidents in 2018.
“Use of force against officer contacts is relatively rare,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that when force is used it cannot be catastrophic or a source great tension or distrust in the community, but as an event we’ve consistently reported it as a relatively rare event.”
Incidents involving the use of force have been trending down over time, del Pozo said, from 316 in 2012 to 193 in 2018. Officers receive more 40 hours of training each year, del Pozo said.
Del Pozo also reviewed the department’s current use of force policy with the council, and said that he thought it could be improved by adding more explicit statements of principles and values.
Del Pozo also showed the council the department’s breakdown of suspects, arrests and use of force by race, which shows African Americans in Burlington are overrepresented compared to the census data in all three categories.
“One thing that’s intractable and irrefutable about American policing is that it has a disproportionate effect on African Americans,” he said. “Our use of force is no different.”
Mayor Miro Weinberger said that while the incidents being discussed were not representative of the city’s wider policing efforts, they have damaged the trust between the police and community.
Weinberger said the city had to repair that trust and “continue advancing with our progressive policing agenda that makes this community both safer and more just.”
The mayor said that his administration would provide the necessary resources for a robust public engagement process to look at the use of force policy, officer training, information disclosure policy, civilian oversight structures and officer wellness initiatives.
Councilor questions touched on a number of issues, with many members asking about the discipline received by the officers and why the department had not informed the public before the lawsuits were filed earlier this month
“Eight months [after] this incident took place, we didn’t know,” Dieng said. “We are elected officials, and no one knew about this. It’s embarrassing to hear this from the media.”
Del Pozo said the department was willing to work with the council to set clearer guidelines on when and how information about use of force incidents should be released.
VTDigger requested the investigator’s report into the actions of the officers mentioned in the lawsuit, but the City of Burlington rejected the request, citing the ongoing litigation and personnel records exemption.
Councilor Max Tracy said there had been a “fracture” in trust with the police department, and asked del Pozo why the 2018 use of force data was not yet publicly available on the department’s website.
“I really do see a disturbing trend taking place within our police department in regards to use of force, and I think we need to be open and honest about that,” Tracy said.
Del Pozo acknowledged the department owes the public a report on 2018 use of force and an analysis of how that use of force breaks down by race.
Council President Kurt Wright said it was clear the videos were disturbing and a review was needed, but he defended the department.
“I believe a vast majority of our police department are good people, they have an incredibly difficult job,” Wright said. “We need to put ourselves in their shoes every once in a while and think about the different things they need to face on a day-to-day basis.”
Overall, the council seems united in its desire to review the department’s use of force and other policies, and Weinberger said he is looking forward to working with the council to establish a way forward in coming days.
Multiple speakers during the public forum spoke in support of the demands of Black Lives Matter of Greater Burlington, who are calling for the firing of Campbell, Bellavance and Corrow.
The group is also demanding the officers not get re-hired by any state or local department in Chittenden County; that all police officers in Chittenden County use body cameras and that the footage be released at no expense to the public; and that the department stop hiring new officers and instead hirers more social workers.
“Police brutality is nothing new to the Burlington Police Department,” BLM said in a statement read by Kenzie Hines. “We hold up these three officers, Corrow, Bellavance, and Campbell, as examples of the prevalence of violence and excessive use of force in BPD. Rather than being a few ‘bad apples,’ they demonstrate a pattern of behavior that is indicative of not just the culture of violence and racial bias within the BPD, but also reflects that of the broader U.S. culture.”
Because of the pending lawsuits, del Pozo did not speak about the specific incidents. But he said he generally supported releasing as much body camera footage as possible as quickly as possible, with caveats, including of footage involved in litigation.
He also said he supported the hiring of more social workers if the city could find the room in the budget.
During the public forum, resident Kevin Rodgers, a physician at the UVM Medical Center, discussed the severity of the injuries suffered by Jeremie Meli, one of the men who filed the lawsuit against the department.
“I believe that video footage documents an unprovoked, unjustified, vicious attack on a citizen of our community,” he said. “As an emergency department physician, I have seen patients with less severe trauma end up with lifelong disability, paralysis and death.”
During a rally outside City Hall before the meeting, former city council candidate Mohamed Jafar said the activities of the BPD were “entirely inappropriate.”
“We want to feel safe here,” he said. “I want to have kids, and I want my kids to feel safe here, I want to feel safe here, I want my little brothers to feel safe here, I want my neighbors to feel safe here, and I want your kids to feel safe here, I want everyone to feel safe here.”
