Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo resigned today. This follows revelations that he had set up a fake Twitter account last summer and then lied about it to a Seven Days reporter. Seven Days broke the story last week. Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, who hired the chief in 2015, issued a lengthy statement on Friday explaining why he had not fired del Pozo when the chief first came to him to admit that he had set up the account and then lied about it. The mayor had kept the matter secret from the City Council and the public and explained that it was both a mental health and human resource matter.
Seven Days is also reporting today that del Pozo did not disclose under oath in a civil case about his social media accounts.
Mayor Miro Weinberger and Chief Brandon del Pozo in 2017. VBM file photo.
Del Pozo, 45, issued the following statement on Twitter today along with a copy of his resignation letter to the mayor (see below), also dated today: "It was such an honor and a privilege to be our city's Chief of Police. I'm looking forward to future opportunities to serve, and happy and healthy times with my family."
While Weinberger had resisted terminating del Pozo's position in his Friday statement, he said he would take the weekend to consider what further actions he would take in the matter.
Weinberger placed del Pozo on unspecified medical leave in August. He returned to work in September after six weeks. Del Pozo also missed several months of work last year after he suffered a serious bicycle accident in June 2018 in the Adirondacks.
Del Pozo served as a police officer for 18 years in New York City, lastly as a deputy inspector. He's a 1996 graduate of Dartmouth College.
In his letter he said he was proud of what the Police Department had accomplished, including cutting the number of opioid death in half in 2018 and reducing overall violent crime. He said he would continue writing the book he had set aside when he took the job as chief and would continue to pursue a PhD. He also sought a broad plan of action to reduce police use-of-force.
