Late Monday evening the Burlington City Council voted by a margin of 8-4 to raise the authorized cap of officers at the Burlington Police Department to 79. With an additional 8 officers at the Airport currently, this action effectively raises the cap from 74 to 87 officers.
Mayor Weinberger made the following statement: “The City Council acted correctly this evening in restoring the ranks of our police department to a functional and operational number of 87 officers. It will take a long time to repair the grave decline of our public safety capacity that was initiated last June, but tonight’s action does send a positive message to our officers and the Burlington community that public safety and maintaining a viable department remain a shared goal of the Administration and the Council.”
Weinberger in particular thanked Progressive City Councilors Zoraya Hightower and Jane Stromberg “for recognizing through their [yes] votes that our sworn officers are foundational to realizing our shared goals of a transformed, progressive public safety infrastructure in Burlington.”
However, there is no quick fix for the city’s acute shortage of police officers due to numerous resignations amid the Progressive-led ‘defund the police’ decision last June. The hiring process for even experienced, well-regarded police officers is lengthy, and hiring and training new recruits can take up to a year.