Youth gun violence prevention, anti-graffiti initiatives proposed
By Guy Page
Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, Progressive candidate for mayor, Thursday released a public safety plan seeking more staffing of the Burlington Fire Department and Community Justice Center – but makes no specific mention about adding police. The plan does call for increasing “strategic police visibility and enforcement of criminal activity.”
Mulvaney-Stanak, who is also a legislator, faces City Councilor and Democrat Joan Shannon in the March 5 Election. Shannon, the lone councilor to vote against a 2021 defunding measure that would have significantly reduced police by attrition, has the endorsement of both the Burlington police and firefighter unions.
Incumbent Miro Weinberger announced last summer he will not seek re-election. Burlington’s rising violent crime, retail theft, and drug overdose rates have many city residents concerned about the public safety response from the city’s next mayor.
“Let’s be clear: everyone deserves to feel and be safe in Burlington,” Mulvaney-Stanak said in a campaign email outlining the plan. “People deserve a timely and appropriate response when they call for help. We need collaborative solutions that help people meet their basic needs and make better use of community enforcement measures proven to improve safety, including community policing, strategic use of city resources to address “hot spots” experiencing crime, and well-resourced, right-sized staffing levels for our first responders.”
Mulvaney-Stanak’s plan includes:
- Immediately appoint a special assistant to the mayor on community safety.
- Increase strategic police visibility and enforcement of criminal activity to deter crime and negative behavior. Evidence shows that community enforcement strategies change behavior more effectively than the threat of punishment by the criminal justice system. We must reestablish trust by responding when people and businesses call for help, and we must send the right response to address the harm.
- Implement a more responsive community safety system to prevent harm, meet residents’ needs, and rebuild trust. This includes resourcing and staffing the Burlington Fire Department and Community Justice Center, collaborating with treatment and recovery partners, creating overdose prevention centers, and providing resources to businesses.
- Commit to proven anti-violence strategies that make us all safer. For example, we must support our youth with gun prevention and intervention strategies.
- Advocate for statewide and regional policy change to leverage resources and address the root causes of community safety. Burlington cannot be alone in solving these complex challenges. We deserve statewide collaboration to address these statewide challenges, from common sense gun laws to state investments in workforce development for first responders.
- Improve daily quality of life for everyone in our city by developing and implementing a smart and responsive strategy for needle recovery and recommencing a robust graffiti removal strategy.
- Build a city government culture that centers community, collaboration, innovation, and trust.
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