The Burlington City Council passed a resolution Monday reducing police staffing levels following weeks of calls from community members to redirect police funding to social services.
The resolution sets the new cap for officers at 74, which is a 30% reduction from the current cap of 105, and states that the funding from the reduction be used to “reduce the demand for police services through a variety of social services, as well as social justice, racial justice, and economic justice initiatives.”
The reduction would be through attrition as officers leave or retire. The force had 91 members as of last week.
The council delayed discussion of the city budget, which must be approved by Wednesday, to a continuation of the meeting Tuesday night at 5:30.
The resolution passed in a 9-3 vote just after 1:40 a.m. Tuesday, with Councilors Ali Dieng, I-Ward 7; Joan Shannon, D-South District; and Chip Mason, D-Ward 5, voting no. Dieng, Shannon and Mason all said they believed the number of officers should be further examined before a new number is set.
The vote follows weeks of calls from residents that the council enact the demands of the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance. In recent weeks, more than 1,000 speakers have called into municipal meetings to express support for the alliance’s demands.
Councilor Zoraya Hightower, P-Ward 1, thanked the alliance for localizing the national movement and thanked those who have voiced their support. She said she believed the calls from the community pushed the council to take action.
“I’m really grateful those voices called in, and gave us the courage to … pass this resolution,” she said.
Councilor Brian Pine, P-Ward 3, said that he thought the resolution was a significant step forward.
“I think the accomplishment tonight is pretty significant for a community that just a few weeks ago started grappling with this particular approach, or this particular chapter, or what we need to do to dismantle racism,” he said.
Dieng said that he did not believe the resolution was an appropriate response and would not bring the change people wanted to see.
“It doesn’t bring justice, but it is definitely bringing danger to the safety of the residents of the city, to the tourists, to the businesses, to even people who will need help from the police,” he said. “Times have changed, and change does not come overnight.”
The resolution also declares racism a public health crisis and terminates a memorandum of understanding with the Burlington School District that outlines the school resource officer program at the end of the spring 2021 semester.
The city will also create a community based cultural empowerment center, a minority owned business procurement program and provide additional funding for the city’s Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging function.
A joint committee of the council’s public safety committee and police commission will be established to review the question of “how to build a healthy and safe community and what institutions we need to reach that goal,” including an inquiry into the Burlington Police Department.
City staff will undergo additional trainings on systemic oppression, and the city will establish a task force to consider an apology or reparations for the role that Burlington has played in slavery.
The resolution also calls for the charter change committee to review and propose amendments that would give the police commission the ability to impose officer discipline and override disciplinary decisions made by the police chief.
The city will also negotiate for mandatory requirements to report use of force, stronger disciplinary measures and full transparency of disciplinary procedures in police encounters involving excessive force in its next contract with the police union.
Dieng proposed an amendment to remove the language decreasing the number of officers and instead establish a task force to determine “a necessary and gradual reduction of uniformed police officers before 2022 when the new contract between the two entities is reviewed.”
Dieng’s amendment failed in a 9-3 vote, with Shannon and Mason supporting it.
Councilor Jane Stromberg, P-Ward 8, proposed an amendment further cutting the level of officers, to 63 officers. This would be a 30% reduction from the current number of officers as the department has unfilled positions.
Stromberg’s resolution failed in an 8-3 vote with Councilors Perri Freeman, P-Central District, and Jack Hanson, P-East District, joining her.
Burlington Police Officers’ Association president Tyler Badeau said during a Monday press conference that he believed cutting the number of police in the city would make the community less safe.
“If the supply of police officers is reduced without first reducing the demand for police services, public safety will suffer and so will the safety of our members,” he said.
The union believes that several lines in the resolution are subject to collective bargaining, and Vinny Ross, a spokesperson for the union, said that the union is consulting with its attorney.
Both reducing the number of officers through attrition and giving the police commission disciplinary decision-making power would have to be collectively bargained, Ross said.
The public forum at Monday’s meeting featured more calls from residents to support the demands of the racial justice alliance.
“This is about transforming the lives of Black and brown people by investing in their lives, by holding space for their culture, by providing them with opportunity, and ensuring equity that they deserve to thrive,” said Mark Hughes, a member of the racial justice alliance and a police commissioner.
