Burlington, Vermont’s interim Police Chief began working on Monday. One night later, he appeared before the city Police Commission to introduce himself and report on the department.
The Burlington Police Commission receives a monthly report from the chief. Interim leader Shawn Burke began working on Monday and rather than reviewing the department’s monthly statistics he introduced himself, telling commissioners that he is returning to a department that starkly changed.
“I’ve spent my last 30 years in Vermont municipal law enforcement. I started in 1994 in Woodstock, Vermont. After two years there, in 1997, I came here to the city of Burlington and served as a police officer. I did 21 years. I served all through the patrol division, all through detective services. Retired as deputy chief when I was hired as the Police Chief in the city of South Burlington where I have spent the last 6 ½ years. So I’ve got nearly 28 years of experience here policing in Chittenden County,” Burke said. “I’ve remained really progressive in my thought in how we need to evolve the profession. I serve as your interim police chief for the next two years. The organization is starkly different than the one that I retired from in 2018. But I’m excited for what lies ahead in terms of challenges.”
The written monthly report was drafted by Burke’s predecessor, so he offered his perspectives on the department and his hopes to expand recruitment and morale.
“Although our team is much smaller than the team I had left, it’s also much more diverse in terms of the number of services that the police department provides through different professional staff. And really it intersects pretty nicely with social service needs in the community. But we also need a good strong foundation of a police department and we look forward to building on our recruitment model. So, we’ll look to expand on those efforts,” Burke said.
Commissioner Jessica Oski asked Interim Chief Burke about his key concerns.
“What’s the top two or three items that are on your to tackle list?”asked Oski.
“We need to bring stability internally,” Burke replied. “Our officers and professional staff have worked really hard, really long hours. We need to invest in their wellness. So that’s going to be a large part of my work. And we all know from the state perspective, what we see in the housing crisis, substance use disorder and also mental health that our systems, they’re just overwhelmed and I think Burlington is one of the cities that is really feeling the pressure of that.”
Commissioner Susan Comerford urged Burke to visit all the minority communities in the city.
“We still have a lot of work to do in terms of helping the police department be better heard and understood and also the various small communities we have be better understood. We really need to build those relationships. That’s really necessary. There’s still healing in this community that needs to happen, particularly around races issues,” observed Comerford.
“Sometimes with some of the more marginalized communities what any police official needs is an introduction to help us build that relationship. So I am open to chatting with anyone about concerns that they have, questions they have about policing,” Burke assured her. “Whatever forum you think that we can convene to have a meaningful conversation with any group, neighborhood, I’m all in for.”
Comerford: “I’d be happy to help with that.”
Commission Chair Robert Depper noted that the monthly report had been drafted by outgoing Chief Jon Murad and offered thanks for his service to the Police Commission.
“The chief’s report, put together by Chief Murad is online. Chief Murad is not with us tonight but I did want to thank him for that report and thank him for his service in working with this commission for as long as he has. He has worked in a very challenging environment and I appreciate all that work and all the updates he has given to the commission,” noted Depper.
The mayor’s office announced Tuesday that Murad had been placed on administrative leave “to ensure clarity of leadership at the department.” He plans to leave the department on or before April 7th.
