By Michael Bielawski

More than nine in ten of people arrested in Chittenden County for violating court-ordered conditions of release get released back onto the streets, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad stated in a recent report. 

The data appears on the 18th page of Chief Jon Murad’s monthly report to the Police Commission. It states, “This table compares, county by county, the dispositions when a criminal is arrested and brought before the court for violating his or her conditions of release. In Chittenden County, more than any other, the person has that violation dismissed.”

Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George has already been in the spotlight in recent years for her alleged lack of prosecuting criminals. A Feb. 2024 petition for her removal that received over 1,100 signatures.

More incidents than “any point in half a decade”

In addition to the release data, the report highlights that despite current support from both the city council and the new mayor’s office, the department continues to struggle to replenish its staffing levels since its defunding via attrition by the City Council of 2020. And staffing shortage is reflected in a growing number of police incidents. 

It states, “Incidents in 2024 are up 3% compared to 2023. BPD is addressing more incidents than at any point in half a decade, with fewer patrol officers than in 2019—50% fewer, in fact.”

As a result, BPD must prioritize which calls they can respond to with an armed officer and which ones may get an unarmed response or no in-person response. Drug sales, retail theft, and stolen vehicles are some examples of crimes that do not currently get an automatic officer response because they are labeled ‘priority 3’ calls.

Retail theft has been up the most dramatically in recent years. The report states, “There were 324 incidents of “Retail Theft” in 2022; there have been 793 in [FY] 2023, with 15 days to go. This category is 235% higher than the five-year average, just barely lower than the increase in overdose (265%).”

Overall crime continues to be up in general for the Queen City. The report notes, “As a result, of the 15,743 incidents in 2024 so far, 1,903 have been ‘stacked’—i.e., 12%. And 891 were begun as online reports, or 6%.” Crime is up nearly 10% over 2019, when the city saw 14,997 incidents reported.

The report explains some more about how efforts have been going to replenish the department. It states, “As of July 15, 2024, we are authorized for 87 sworn officers. Of those 87, we employ 66. Of those 66, 58 are able to be deployed as solo officers, or ‘effective.’”

Last week Murad did a special meeting with the public to discuss how to mitigate these latest trends in crime. The chief heard from multiple residents that they have become discouraged by the limited in-person responses. One woman even claimed to have not gotten an officer response after a knife was pulled on her, Murad noted there may be further investigation into what happened.

Support from the mayor

The city’s new mayor hasn’t wasted time since being elected to establish that she supports the police department. On the first page of the report is a photo of her standing alongside Murad to address officers who worked over the July 4 holiday.

The report states, “The Queen City celebrated a wonderful Third of July, with thousands of visitors. Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak addressed the full-house roll call at the BPD EOC, thanking officers, CSOs, CSLs, and partners like BFD, GMT, VSP, and others for working the holiday.”

Her support for Murad as recently as a year ago was in question while she was still running for office. She had been critical of Murad appearing in headlines in 2023 regarding a conflict at a hospital with a surgeon.

The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle