According to the most recent data from the FBI, the total crime rate in Burlington is 2,989.0 per 100,000 people. That’s 20.68% higher than the national rate of 2,476.7 per 100,000 people and 83.75% higher than the Vermont total crime rate of 1,626.6 per 100,000 people.
Without serious deliberation or debate, the City of Burlington, Vermont defunded the police, cutting it by a third. The money was used for Marxist social justice organizations. The city tried to coddle criminals.
Far-left Democrats in Burlington demanded the police be defunded – following the advice of Democrats like Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.
The activist ACLU pushed the progressive policing policies, now that the ACLU has gone back to its Soviet roots.
Burlington is a far-to-the-Left city to begin with, thanks in large part to years of governance by Bernie Sanders.
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Police began to leave the force after the cuts in a city that didn’t appreciate them. They weren’t replaced.
Patrols shrank and then stopped. Morale sank.
Burlington hired social workers to handle some calls — but “realizing there was a problem,” the city reversed course and is now scrambling to hire officers back. “In other words, there are some unintended consequences.”
The Chief is working to rebuild his ranks.
DEFUNDING THE POLICE HAS CONSEQUENCES
Far-left Democrats in Burlington, Vermont defunded the police in favor of “social and racial justice programs” and social workers.
But the city soon felt the disastrous consequences. pic.twitter.com/xD96nScaot
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 17, 2021
Routine patrols stopped, and morale sank.
“We don’t feel safe in the evenings,” one resident said. pic.twitter.com/SKBUEpfR9E
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 17, 2021
Social Workers Can’t Handle Most Calls
Burlington hired social workers to handle some calls — but “realizing there was a problem,” the city reversed course and is now scrambling to hire officers back.
“In other words, there are some unintended consequences.” pic.twitter.com/TvSvbRSlYH
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 17, 2021
IT’S NOT SAFE
Enough city councilors, mainly Progressives, had blocked the efforts to increase the police.
In press releases from the BPD, the police staffing pressures have been linked closely with violent crime in Burlington this summer.
“Short-staffed and stretched, Burlington’s officers did excellent work in the predawn hours” in responding to a report of gunfire, Acting Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad stated in a press release about an incident in May.
“This high rate of gunfire incidents, that is such a significant departure from our norm, is unacceptable,” Weinberger said in a press release about a bullet hole found last month in an Edmunds Middle School window. “It is clear that we need to urgently return resources to the police department and invest fully in the public safety services that Burlingtonians need and expect.”
The Burlington Business Association said it set up a downtown escort system to keep residents, particularly women, safe from an “increase in violent attacks.”
According to the most recent data from the FBI, the total crime rate in Burlington is 2,989.0 per 100,000 people. That’s 20.68% higher than the national rate of 2,476.7 per 100,000 people and 83.75% higher than the Vermont total crime rate of 1,626.6 per 100,000 people.
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