Burlington City Council votes to put police oversight changes on November ballot

Burlington voters will decide in November whether or not to approve a charter change of more oversight of the Burlington Police Department. Monday night, Burlington City Council voted unanimously to put this police oversight initiative on the ballot.

If passed, the resolution will give more power to the police commissioners to manage and audit the police department. It would also give the commissioners power to monitor the staff, gaining access to documents and complaints from and about police staff.

The City Council has "continued to take steps to revise Burlington’s police oversight, transparency and accountability practices...as part of its continued commitment to oversight and accountability," according to the document of the proposed changes presented Monday.

In February 2023, the City Council requested meeting with multiple groups to begin the discussion and planning of police oversight. These proposed changes are the product of those months of meetings.

How police oversight would change

Currently, if there is an issue with or a complaint against an officer, the police chief has sole discretion on how to proceed. Under the proposed resolution, police commissioners would review the chief's decision, and if they disagree, the incident would be reviewed by an independent panel.

The police commission is a board of seven legal voters appointed by the City Council to serve for three years. The proposed document clarifies that this board will be representative of city's diversity and include those from "historically marginalized communities."

These charter changes came in the wake of a series of meetings between the ordinance committee and charter change committee, combining community and stakeholder input on all aspects of the Burlington Police Department. The joint committee consulted with the police commission before proposing the final charter changes that will be voted on in November.

Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad opposed a different oversight proposal in 2023.

The Burlington Police Officers Association stated after the council meeting states they "remain unable to endorse this document," citing a lack of definition of the independent panel may be an issue, along with the overall oversite potentially complicating efforts to recruit and lead to attrition among current employees.

Sydney P. Hakes is the Burlington city reporter. Contact her at SHakes@gannett.com.