The Burlington, Vermont Police Commission has met for the first time since the city’s police chief announced he is stepping down. But little was said Tuesday about that decision.
The commission is a 7-member citizen board appointed to three-year terms by the city council. It is charged with reviewing and approving police department policies; reviewing use of force reports and complaints and oversees the department’s management and facilities.
Last week, Police Chief Jon Murad announced he will not seek reappointment and will leave by April 7th. In their first meeting since the announcement, no member of the Police Commission commented. During public comment, resident Mike Conroy wanted details.
“I’d love to hear his reasons for leaving, for resigning. If there are hard things for us to hear as a city, we deserve to hear it," Conroy said. "We should hear the good and the bad. If he’s got an awesome job lined up in the Bahamas more power to him. But I think if there are hard parts about the job here in Burlington, and I think there probably are, I think the city needs to know that and we need to be more transparent. The way things have been going with the struggle to get officers into Burlington obviously things need to change. So one thing that I’d love to hear: why did Chief Murad decide to leave?”
Murad has not elaborated beyond a statement November 19th that said he was grateful for his tenure and committed to a smooth transition.
Commissioners heard the monthly report from Murad. He reviewed travel to the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference and upcoming conferences and activities. He then reported staffing levels as the department tries to rebuild the number of officers in the department.
“We have moved in the wrong direction in 2024. We began 2024 with 69 and we are currently at 65. And actually as of today we are at 64," Murad added. "This is a snapshot as of the first of each month, but we just lost an officer yesterday to Winooski because she could be an SRO there and Winooski offered her an opportunity to work in the schools.”
Murad said a huge concern is the number of supervisor vacancies in the department.
“We’ve talked with the Police Commission before about the number of supervisors versus the number of officers. The number of supervisors are determined by the numbers of shifts that we have more than anything else," Murad explained. "These are worrisome for me. I hope that we’ll have candidates in January and clearly this body will be a huge component of that vetting and interview process.”
Commissioner Jessica Oski questioned the chief about recruitment of supervisors.
“When you hire supervisors do they have to go to the academy?”
“No," Murad responded. "So supervisors almost entirely come internally.”
“If someone comes from out-of-state, do they have to go to the academy?” asked Oski.
“Yes,” replied Murad.
Chief Murad also detailed an internal survey conducted by the police officer’s union regarding morale that was obtained and published by VTDigger. Murad says while he wasn’t thrilled with the results it shows the truth of what is happening in the department
“It was internal. It wasn’t supposed to be made public but in the long run I don’t think that it’s bad that it was. And I am still working to address these things. We have changed some issues around our supervision and around staffing to try to address some of these issues. We are working on leveraging more training for officers this year. We have a wellness program that’s employed, in place. We brought in a video company to make recruiting videos. And we are working hard on bringing aboard two deputy chiefs. This agency has so much more to give.”
The Burlington Police Department is planning to hold its annual Community Academy beginning January 8th.
