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Burlington's police chief reviews the August 2024 report and discusses recent crime in the city

On Tuesday, the Burlington Police Commission and community members had the opportunity to go over the police chief's August 2024 report. This came in the wake of several violent crimes that occurred that month, including a fatal shooting at a popular nightclub. Although that report was released before some of those crimes, Police Chief Murad was still asked about it and addressed it. “I'm concerned because I'm noticing a trend in the wrong direction in terms of the number of incidents,” said Romeo Von Hermann, a Burlington resident. Susan Comerford of the Burlington Police Commission asked about the violent crimes that occurred that month, with some of the suspects being teenagers. “I think what we're seeing right now is the start of the exact same problem,” Murad said. “If we don't address the problem, we're going to be in the same place in a few years. And in fact, it seems like they're moving much faster because they're already displaying firearms at an absolutely alarming rate.” The report details that Burlington police are handling more incidents than at any other point in half a decade. They're doing so with 50% fewer patrol officers than they had in 2019. “If we just compare sworn officers to total incidents per month and just divide them together, that trend has doubled since June 2020,” Murad said. Murad said right now they're at 68 sworn officers out of the 87 they're entitled to. They've been stuck in the mid to high 60s for years. At a press conference Monday, Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak said they would invest between $2 million and $3 million in their current fiscal year to hire more additional officers. Murad said the BPD is actively recruiting, but it's been challenging. “I was really hoping to be in the low 70s. and I don't think we're going to get there,” Murad said. “And we're going to be in the very high 60s or mid 60s even by the end of this calendar year, and that's not what we want.” Von Hermann hopes more people join the force soon because he's concerned about the current direction the city is heading. “I wonder if we'll see tangible results by the end of this year,” Von Hermann said. There will be a public forum on public safety on Sept. 5 at Burlington City Hall.

BURLINGTON, Vermont —

On Tuesday, the Burlington Police Commission and community members had the opportunity to review the Police Chief's August 2024 report.

This comes in the wake of numerous violent crimes this month, including a fatal shooting at a popular nightclub.

Although this report was released before some of the crimes in question were made public, Chief Murad was still questioned about them and addressed them.

“I'm concerned because I'm seeing a trend in the wrong direction in terms of the number of incidents,” said Romeo von Hermann, a Burlington resident.

Susan Comerford of the Burlington Police Commission asked about violent crimes committed this month, in which some suspects were teenagers.

“I think what we are seeing right now is the beginning of exactly the same problem [that we’ve seen in years past]said Murad. “If we don't address the problem, we'll be in the same place in a few years. And in fact, it seems like they're moving much faster, because they're already displaying firearms at an absolutely alarming rate.”

The report details that Burlington Police are dealing with more incidents than at any time in the past five years.

And that with 50% fewer patrol officers than in 2019.

“If we simply compare the number of sworn officers to the total number of incidents per month and divide those numbers by each other, that trend has doubled since June 2020,” Murad said.

Murad said 68 of the 87 authorized sworn officers are currently in office.

68 officers

They have been stuck in the mid to high 60s for years.

At a press conference on Monday, Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak said that between $2 million and $3 million would be invested in the current fiscal year to hire additional officers.

Murad said BPD has been actively recruiting people, but it has been challenging.

“I was really hoping to be in the very low 70s. But I don't think we're going to get there,” Murad said. “And we're going to be in the very high 60s or mid 60s even by the end of this calendar year, and that's not what we want.”

Von Hermann hopes that more people will join the police soon because he is concerned about the current development of the city.

“I wonder if we will see tangible results by the end of this year,” said von Hermann.

A public safety forum will be held at Burlington City Hall on September 5.

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