by Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak Community Safety is a top priority of my administration and has been since my first day in office. Burlington’s health and safety challenges are complex and multi-faceted, and we hear daily from residents, business owners, visitors, and City Councilors about what you are seeing and feeling. We hear your pleas for a safer, healthier Burlington and your concerns for those who are suffering. We also hear your ideas for how we can achieve our shared goals and address our shared concerns—thank you! In turn, I and my team, including Department Heads and City staff, are working daily to improve our response to the City’s immediate safety needs, while also crafting longer-term solutions.
Efforts to Improve Community Safety
Since April, my administration has focused on the following community safety efforts:
- Ensuring our FY25 budget prioritized community safety needs, including hiring more sworn officers and Community Service Officers (CSOs); dedicating resources to recruitment and retention of police officers; ensuring the viability of the Fire Department’s CRT program; and shoring up security at the Library.
- Convening Department Heads and City Staff, as well as Community Advisors on Safety, to identify immediate action steps. These include:
- Increase public safety response effectiveness by improving dispatch interactions with the public and reviewing how calls are triaged and who responds; making the BPD’s non-emergency phone menu more user-friendly; and developing and updating public-facing guides about whom to call for what (such as this Downtown Safety and Security Guide).
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Re-establish staffing at the Police Department Front Desk to support people seeking in-person help or information at One North Avenue.
- Increase public bathroom access in the downtown core.
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Improve coordination between the BPD, the State's Attorney, and Courts, especially in regard to what happens with bail and community release.
- Use data to inform staffing schedules and improve coordination between public safety departments across the city.
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Improve case management coordination between community partners, including the city, to better address health and safety needs of individuals.
- Holding weekly meetings of City Staff to discuss areas in the city needing immediate responses and taking action steps to improve safety, for example:
- Fletcher Free Library: additional security guards, securing the parking lot, increased police presence, removal of bus shelter, creating an in-house social worker position;
- Marketplace Garage: increased staffing, maintenance, security, and law enforcement presence; ensuring all cameras are fully-functioning;
- Buell Street area: increased law enforcement patrols, enforcement of camping ordinance, frequent presence and response to calls by Community Support Liaisons (CSLs) and Fire Department;
- Downtown BHS: meetings with School District leaders and City Staff to discuss safety concerns and solutions prior to the first day of school;
- Multiple additional locations around the City that we are alerted to through community outreach and reports to See Click Fix and following up with enforcement of code violations, infrastructure repair, and trash and needle clean-up.
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Supporting an expanded role for our Community Justice Center, including through partnership with the Police Department to provide pre-charge diversion, which allows an immediate response for helping hold people accountable, repair harm, and support victims;
- Implementing the City’s Encampments policy by meeting basic human needs where people are sleeping outdoors while also enforcing our city’s ordinances that prohibit camping in City Parks and greenways along streets and sidewalks;
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Hiring a Senior Advisor on Community Safety (announcement on 8/12).
Looking Ahead: Upcoming Work & Opportunities to Engage
- 8/12 City Council meeting work sessions on encampment response and community safety;
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Public Forum on Community Safety series—first one on September 5 at 5:30 pm, Contois Auditorium, City Hall;
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Reconvening Community Advisors on Safety and continuing to meet with Burlington business owners and staff;
- Working with BPD to review the Priority Response Plan;
- Continue working on and supporting efforts that:
- Create more housing and address homelessness
- Establish an Overdose Prevention Center
- Expand access to mental healthcare and substance use treatment
- Empower and advocate for youth
- Center restorative justice, equity, compassion, and anti-violence in our approach to community safety
My administration is acutely aware of the health and safety challenges facing our community. We will continue to work in collaboration with City Departments, City Council, and community partners to implement immediate and long-term strategies to improve quality of life for all Burlingtonians. I welcome your continued engagement, and I look forward to hearing from you at the upcoming Community Safety Public Forum, or at one of my weekly mayor-meet-ups around the City.
August 6, 2024
