BURLINGTON — Acting Police Chief Jon Murad asked the City Council Monday to modify its 30% staffing reduction resolution and raise the hiring cap on officers from 74 to 84.
He presented council members with a proposal that would allow the department to increase the hiring cap by 10 officers in addition to the hiring of community service officers and liaisons. The latter would be unarmed, civilian positions that would respond to lower level issues or specific populations that need support, like those experiencing homelessness or drug addiction.
The proposal comes two weeks after Murad had warned the public that the city was losing officers quickly as a result of the Racial Justice Resolution passed in June. The resolution aims to decrease the force to 74 members through attrition and reallocate the money toward racial and social justice initiatives. If the force dwindles to 74 members, the BPD would be unable to staff the 3 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. night shift.
In June, the BPD had 91 officers. Since then, that number has dropped to 81. Murad expects more departures in the coming months.
“The officers who have left this department have stated pretty clearly that they feel a lack of support in the city,” Murad said. Some officers have taken new jobs, retired or have been deployed to the military.
“I work regularly to try to assure them that I am here for the long haul, that we have a department and a role to fulfill, an important one,” Murad added. “But it is a challenge, and we are in a position of frankly crisis with regard to staffing.”
Burlington’s decision to reduce police staffing by 30% came at a time in the summer when demonstrators nationwide were calling for cities to “defund the police” in response to high-profile officer killings of Black men and women. Supporters of the movement proposed that funds saved from the department budgets could be reallocated for social services to prevent people experiencing homelessness, poverty or addiction from offending.
Murad’s request was met with mixed reactions from the council. The body did not take action on the proposal beyond sending it to the citizen oversight Police Commission for review.
City Councilor Jack Hanson, P-East District, said he understood the concerns stemming from the staffing pressures the BPD is facing. But he also recognized that the Racial Justice Resolution was passed because the community had lost trust with the police, a problem that has not been resolved in only a few months.
While he gave the mayor’s office credit for some of the measures that have been implemented, such as the hiring of Racial Equity Director Tyeastia Green, Hanson said Mayor Miro Weinberger hasn’t effectively reallocated the money saved from the police staffing reduction to social services.
“Policies can’t be successful if there’s not a full commitment to implementing them,” Hanson said. “And that’s not to say that this policy was perfect and no changes are needed from us as policymakers. But I really want to see us come together and figure out how we can actualize this vision.”
Weinberger pushed back. He said Hanson oversimplified the city’s ability to end systemic poverty in an effort to bottleneck crime in only a few months. He pointed to the hiring of Kyle Dodson as the city’s new director of police transformation as proof of the city’s investment in reforming the department.
He supports Murad’s proposal and said the council should collaborate with the mayor’s office and the BPD in executing it. Weinberger said his administration has felt excluded by the council on issues of police reform.
“I’ve never seen a council process that does not engage the administration fully as a partner,” Weinberger said. “The council continues on this issue, uniquely, to hold the administration at an arm’s length and essentially attempt to keep us out of this work.”
The Racial Justice Resolution dictated that a joint committee of the City Council Public Safety Committee and the Police Commission lead an assessment of the BPD and reenvision the structure of the department based on community feedback. Neither of those processes have begun, which prompted Murad to develop his proposal.
Councilor Zoraya Hightower, P-Ward 1, who chairs the joint committee, said requests for proposals have begun. She said she has been upfront from the beginning that it would be a lengthy process. The BPD, the administration and the council share blame for staffing issues the department is now experiencing, she said.
“This isn’t a surprise,” Hightower said. “Collectively, we’ve not done a good job of being proactive and coming up with solutions.” She also said she wanted to see Dodson take a more active role in policy decisions.
Councilor Sarah Carpenter, D-Ward 4, said she was comfortable with the department expanding the number of officers beyond the current cap of 74. Because eight of the officers solely oversee the Burlington International Airport and do not patrol the Burlington community, she said she could support more officers being hired to take on more public-facing responsibilities.
Councilor Joan Shannon, D-South District, criticized council members for supporting the 30% staffing reduction resolution when it first passed — she voted against it — and commended Murad for bringing the proposal forward.
Shannon said reducing the number of officers without proactively addressing crime in the city ultimately makes policing more expensive, as officers are called in for more overtime hours and become overworked.
“We were warned that we were going to be in the position that we are in today,” Shannon said. “So I don’t think it should surprise anybody that Chief Murad came out a week ago with a plan to avert disaster.”
