By Michael Bielawski
The new chief’s report for Burlington is out and it highlights a concerning trend involving the workload that each sworn officer must undertake while policing in the Queen City.
The graph is labeled incidents vs. headcounts and an upward trend is noted starting in 2020 – when the City Council voted to defund via attrition the police department by about 30% – to today. The report states, “It gives a very conservative picture of the tremendous workload increase since July 2020, per officer—the trend has doubled.”
The data is also concerning when the incident volume is compared with the total BPD headcount. It states, “But comparing total incidents to total officers underestimates the burden on patrol. The majority ( >75%) of incidents are answered by non-supervisory patrol officers.”
It continues that this data does not account for “incidents answered at the airport, by detectives, by supervisors, or by CSOs and CSLs.” It notes that CSOs (unarmed Community Service Officers) were used as the primary responding officer for 16% of all incidents for 2022, as well as 12% in 2023, and 13% so far for 2024.
It concludes, “Therefore the true burden on sworn patrol officers lies somewhere between the red and the blue. It’s still staggering; the trendline shows a 200% increase.”
Depleted staff forcing reassignments
While 68 officers are considered on staff, only 58 of them are currently available for assignments. Reasons for staffed officers being unavailable can include training, personal issues, injury, and more. This forces the department to take officers away from special assignments such as drug offenses and domestic violence.
The report notes, “Previously there were three special assignments, but patrol deficits and summer call volume have necessitated that two—the Domestic Violence Prevention Officer (DVPO) and the temporary Narcotics Officer—be deployed on patrol. It is expected those officers will return to their special assignments in October.”
Overall incidents at new high
The overall number of incidents as of Aug. 15 of this year compared with the same point in past years is at a new high. The previous high was 2023 when 18,573 incidents were reported as of mid-August. That number for this year is up 1%, to 18,797 incidents. Looking further back, in 2019 there were 17,783 incidents by this date.
Some concerning trends include overdose incidents are at a high of 353 by mid-August. Last year there had been 288, and in 2022 there had been 121. Every year for the past five years that has been trending upward, in 2019 there were only 30 such incidents by this point in the year.
Aggravated assaults are another category that is generally trending upward. There have been 45 this year, compared with 28 last year. In 2022 there were 46 incidents by mid-August.
Help on the way, mayor supports
Four new sworn officers were added to the BPD recently, as well as three new dispatchers and other positions. They were formally added to the staff on Aug. 1. It was noted that Mayor Mulvaney-Stanek “attended and offered welcoming remarks to these new members of the team.”
Low morale?
According to a study by Policing: a Journal of Policy and Practice, at the national level the low staffing levels are creating challenges for departments that are further exasperating the remaining officers.
Their report states, “Policing worldwide is facing a staffing and retention crisis. If the staffing exodus continues, communities will be left with too few police and large cohorts of inexperienced new recruits on the job.”
It continues that 2,669 officers responded to their survey regarding what the biggest challenges are facing policing these days.
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle