Mayor Weinberger Statement in Response to ACLU Letter
Burlington, VT - Today, Jay Diaz, General Council of the ACLU of Vermont, sent a letter addressed to Mayor Weinberger accusing “some City officials” of disseminating misinformation regarding public safety and policing data in Burlington and calling for the Mayor, BPD leadership, and “other city leaders” to “listen to the community, look to the evidence, and follow through on the critically important work of reimagining public safety for the betterment of all”. Mayor Miro Weinberger made the following statement:
“We welcome Mr. Diaz’s endorsement of the many progressive police reforms and innovative public safety investments that have driven the dramatic decrease in overall police incidents across the City since 2015. However, his dismissal of the significance of the recent dramatic increase in gunfire incidents, and failure to understand that there is a direct relationship between police investment and violent crime is badly out of touch with the major challenges facing the Police Department today. Mr. Diaz’s flawed analysis should not carry the day as the City confronts critical decisions about police recruitment, retention, and the authorized number of officers in the weeks ahead.”
The City’s most recent annual report on Burlington Police Department data presented to the Burlington Police Commission on May 21, 2021 is available here: BPD ANNUAL REPORT - DRAFT (boarddocs.com) and the City’s Open Data Dashboard for Policing Data is available here: Transparency and Data | City of Burlington, Vermont (burlingtonvt.gov)
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