At a Charter Change Committee meeting Thursday night, Councilor Perri Freeman, P-Central District, proposed an overhaul to the current citizen oversight police commission structure.
The proposal, which was sent to fellow Charter Change Committee members Joan Shannon, D-South District, and Jane Stromberg, P-Ward 8, shortly before the 5:30 p.m. meeting, strips police firing and disciplinary power from the chief of police, as defined by the city’s current charter.
Under the model Freeman proposed, that power would rest in an independent “community law enforcement oversight board” that would be made up of five members. The board would be given investigatory and disciplinary authority over Burlington police officers.
The proposal would authorize the board to hold hearings, take testimony, issue subpoenas, hire attorneys and establish an investigatory office.
The overhaul follows a months-long occupation of Battery Park this fall, in which protesters demanded the firing of three Burlington officers who were accused of using excessive force. Demonstrators also criticized the city’s lack of accountability structures over police. The city repeatedly said the officers couldn’t be fired. One of the reasons cited was that only the chief of police has the authority to discipline or fire officers, according to the city’s charter.
Pressure mounted on Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger to unilaterally dismiss the officers, who had already been adjudicated. He also pointed to the city’s charter, in part, as a reason why he couldn’t terminate the officers.
The proposal also follows critiques by one of the Police Commission’s own members, Mark Hughes, who resigned from the commission after lamenting that it didn’t have enough teeth to be a forceful accountability mechanism over police.
Freeman emphasized that the proposal is a rough first draft. She has contemplated also giving the board hiring power over the chief of police.
The proposal was not approved by the committee at the Thursday night meeting. It was tabled to the next Charter Change committee meeting to be held Nov. 4, largely because the overhaul contradicts another proposal the committee is considering to give more authority to the current Police Commission as it currently exists, which is made up of seven Burlington residents who oversee policing policies.
The Charter Change Committee has also proposed that the Police Commission be given the authority to approve or reject the Burlington chief of police’s recommended discipline when a use of force violation takes place. The City Council directed the Charter Change Committee during a September meeting to explore police oversight structures and review changes in how police disciplinary decisions are made.
If a majority of the Police Commission members approve the chief’s recommendation in response to a use of force complaint, then it will take effect. If a majority rejects it, the commission can request a new recommendation from the chief. If the second recommendation doesn’t receive majority approval from the commission, the commission itself can propose and approve a different recommendation.
However, this change to the charter would be defunct if Freeman’s proposal were to move forward.
The committee did not spend much time discussing Freeman’s proposal. Shannon said completely changing the structure of the Police Commission could hinder the council’s ability to get charter change revisions to voters on Town Meeting Day in March.
“I don’t think that we can wholly throw out everything that we have,” Shannon said. “It’s going to take a lot of effort to go through all of that.”
Stromberg urged the committee to consider the proposed overhaul of the commission because it is based on recommendations from the ACLU and public comment from residents who support a citizen police oversight body with investigatory and disciplinary power.
