Burlington mayoral candidates weigh in on police reforms
BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Police reform in Burlington has been a big focus for several months and it’s a key issue in this year’s mayoral election. The top three major candidates each have different visions when it comes to the future of public safety in the Queen City.
Police reform has been a contentious topic for nearly a year now. The big question is whether or not Burlington is safe with fewer armed officers on patrol.
“I don’t think there’s another community in the country that took anything like that sort of action,” said Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, who has been critical of the City Council’s decision to cut Burlington’s Police headcount by 30% this past summer.
The officer cap is now 74 -- a reduction that has led the department to curtail some services. The mayor believes it ultimately makes the city less safe. “To get public safety right, you need more resources, not less,” he said.
City Council President Max Tracy, P-Ward 2, points to police data that shows arrests and traffic stops have been going down consistently in the Queen City over the last five years.
Reporter Dom Amato: Is public safety in jeopardy right now?
Max Tracy: I don’t think so. Again, we’re not seeing a dramatic spike in crime across our city.
Tracy supports Weinberger’s plan to add new unarmed roles within BPD to address non-emergency calls including mental health crises and substance use issues, but he wants to take it one step further by implementing an independent group to provide more community oversight of police. “What we need is a different approach that embraces more bold and transformative change, as opposed to just more of the same,” Tracy said.
Councilor Ali Dieng, I-Ward 7, sided with Weinberger in opposing the deep cut in officers. He agrees more research was needed to address police reform. “I think it’s a big mistake. We did a big mistake and we did not put any plan,” he said.
Dieng says the decisions about the size of the force should be in the hands of voters, but councilors voted against his proposal to put the issue on the Town Meeting Day ballot.
Dieng says advocates for change pushed councilors over the summer to make the cuts and he says he wouldn’t be swayed so easily. “No, this is not good governance,” he said.
Dieng says the reform should be a community-based process with the help of residents and the chief of police. He believes he’s the only person to lead the city through the efforts and he criticized the mayor for his handling of the issue. “This whole mess was brought here by the current mayor, and he doesn’t have what it takes to solve it,” Dieng said.
Weinberger says he’s now looking to the future of policing and bridging the gap between what police see their job is and what the community wants. “We need to forge a new consensus, we need some structural and cultural change within policing to achieve that new consensus,” he said.
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