Police union roasts city council after contract announcement
By Guy Page
The Burlington City Council last night approved a three-year contract with the Burlington Police Officers Association (BPOA) which gives police officers more money and more civilian oversight.
After the contract was signed, the BPOA issued a blistering statement criticizing the City Council for defunding police in 2020: “Your inaction and abject failure to take responsibility for this crisis has reverberated loudly…..this month, the logically-foreseeable effects of your decision-making have crescendoed into two separate horrific homicide scenes that have shaken our city.”
On July 7, Hussein Mubarak of Burlington was shot in the head at close range on Luck Street. Monday, July 25, a 27-year-old former BHS and UVM student shot and killed a 22-year-old woman then turned the semi-automatic rifle on himself in an apparent murder-suicide on North Winooski Avenue.
Mayor Miro Weinberger praised the deal for providing “a much-needed component to the City’s effort to rebuild the Burlington Police Department, while also making important progress on high priority police accountability issues.”
The police union contact was ratified by the City Council during its July 25 special meeting. The contract, which includes 20 percent base pay increase over three years, builds upon the BPD Rebuilding Plan, which was approved last month by City Council as part of the FY 23 budget. The contract was approved by the City Council 10-1, with one Councilor not present.
Perri Freeman, a central Burlington councilor who has expressed the wish to disarm police officers on patrol, was the sole No vote.
Summary of Major Contract Terms
The contract is a critical step to rebuild the BPD back to the 87-officer authorized cap (there are currently 62 officers on staff), Weinberger said in a statement released this morning.
The contract provides police officers a 20 percent base pay increase over three years, including a 12 percent increase in the FY 23 (in years two and three the increases mirror the terms of the recently approved AFSCME contract). “This increased compensation puts the Burlington Police Department in a very competitive position with respect to other Vermont police departments,” Weinberger said.
The contract also includes police accountability provisions, including:
· Increasing the time the City can retain disciplinary records, and clarifying that some records may be retained permanently. Under the agreed upon contract, records regarding use of force violations and other serious policy violations can be retained by the Department permanently; records will now be retained for non-disciplinary files and letters of reprimand for two years; and records for suspensions will be retained for four years;
· Changing the disciplinary interview process to be consistent with best practice from police oversight advocates;
· Clarifying and enhancing the Police Commission’s and Mayor’s access records during misconduct investigations, and codifying that the Police Commission can play both an advisory role to the Chief prior to the issuance of a disciplinary decision, and serve as an appeals body.
· New contract provisions that prevent officers that have been fired for disciplinary reasons in other law enforcement agencies from being hired by the BPD.
To read the BPOA Contract, click here
This news report includes content from today’s statement by Mayor Weinberger.