Cyclist Laurie Keve was riding north on the Burlington Bike Path around 3:13 p.m. on Aug. 19 when she saw a silver SUV barreling toward her, she later recounted to VTDigger. A man frantically screamed for people to get off the path, she said, and cyclists leapt from their bikes to avoid being hit.
“It took me a few seconds to comprehend what was actually happening,” Keve said.
She dialed 911 as quickly as she could and was transferred to Burlington’s dispatch center. According to Keve, the dispatcher told her no police officers were available to respond and said, “Ma’am, there’s nothing we can do since we’ve been defunded.”
Despite the dramatic nature of the event — and the dispatcher’s alleged response to it — Burlington police officials initially said they were unaware of either.
Following multiple inquiries by VTDigger, Acting Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad wrote in an email on Aug. 23 that he had “not yet found any record of an incident or call at that time and on that date” that Keve said she had reported it. In a subsequent email later that day, at 5:25 p.m., he noted that “every phone call that comes into dispatch is recorded.” But, the chief said, he had still found no record of the call.
A week later, the department finally confirmed the call.
In response to a public records request for call records and recordings filed by VTDigger, Acting Deputy Chief Brian LaBarge on Aug. 30 wrote that such a call had, in fact, been made. But LaBarge declined to release the recording, citing an unspecified internal investigation.
When asked for comment, Murad said Tuesday that the call had not been found until 7:21 p.m. on Aug. 23. There is an open disciplinary case related to the dispatcher who took the call, according to Murad, who declined to elaborate.
“I’m aware it took quite a bit for them to pick that up,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger when asked about the lost call during an interview Tuesday. He, too, declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.
Keve recalled that she pushed back while on the phone with the dispatcher and stressed the severity of the situation, noting that people were jumping from their bikes to avoid being hit. She asked if the Vermont State Police could be called to the scene, but the dispatcher instead suggested that Keve call Burlington’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Waterfront, she said.
“She never even bothered to take my name,” Keve said. “She didn’t take my phone number. She didn’t ask me where I live or the best way to reach me. She clearly had no plan to make a report.”
Keve provided screenshots to VTDigger confirming her call to 911 and a subsequent call to the Department of Parks, Recreation and Waterfront.
According to Deryk Roach, the department’s parks and central facilities superintendent, this is not the first time that Burlington dispatchers have referred requests for police assistance to the parks department. He recalled receiving a call from a woman reporting a possible bike left on her property who said she had been instructed by a dispatcher to call the parks department.
Roach also noted that the city has signs along the bike path stating that cars are prohibited and instructing bystanders to call police if someone is operating an unauthorized vehicle along the path.
The police department’s budget was reduced by about $1 million in 2020 to account for a planned 30% reduction in the number of officers through attrition. More officers left than expected, reducing the number of patrol-ready cops by about 50%. Burlington has since been working to rebuild the force. In June, the city council allocated an additional $1.2 million to the effort, bringing the police budget to approximately $17 million.
