Burlington city councilors on Monday agreed to study how many cops the city needs on its force, a controversial question that has dogged elected officials for the past four years.

The resolution approved on Monday is markedly different from one council Democrats proposed late last week, which would have removed the department’s 87-officer cap altogether. They amended it late Monday night after prolonged negotiations with Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak and Progressive councilors.

Still, the vote wasn’t unanimous. It passed 9-3 — a veto-proof majority — with councilors Marek Broderick (P-Ward 8), Melo Grant (P-Central District) and Joe Kane (P-Ward 3) voting no.
Councilors found more consensus on a measure addressing gun violence in the city, which has increased in recent years. Passed unanimously, the resolution urges Vermont lawmakers to ban firearms from city establishments that sell alcohol — a charter change Burlington voters approved in 2014 that has stalled in the legislature. The council action comes about two weeks after a woman allegedly shot and killed a man outside a Church Street bar following an altercation inside the establishment.



The resolution also lobbies for harsher penalties for possessing stolen firearms and for discharging guns recklessly in the city. And councilors agreed to add a section that asks lawmakers to do more to combat gun violence among youths.
The body had intended to debate two other community safety-related resolutions — to consider building a new police station and a downtown public safety “kiosk” — but voted to delay those votes until its September 23 meeting.

“I’m pleased that we have, in my estimation, improved this through an amendment process,” Councilor Gene Bergman (P-Ward 2) said of the police roster resolution, despite some lingering concerns about the language.

Continuing the debate, Bergman said, “wouldn’t be helpful to us trying to get together and move forward.”

The police roster vote was bound to be contentious. The topic has divided the council in the years since the June 2020 vote to reduce the size of the police force through attrition, from a max of 105 officers to 74. Councilors later upped the head count to 87, but the department has struggled to rebuild its ranks and has fewer than 70 cops on the payroll.

Democrats say the current cap doesn’t allow the city to hire enough officers to address significant spikes in drug use and crime downtown, concerns that were aired during the meeting’s public forum. Parents lamented not being able to bring their children to the library, which has become a hot spot for drug use. Others recounted witnessing assaults or shoplifting.
The Dems introduced the amended resolution after a 30-minute recess in Monday’s meeting, during which the caucuses apparently hashed out their differences. But the ensuing conversation was still testy at times, with Progs slamming Dems for not consulting them on the resolutions beforehand and Dems firing back. Council President Ben Traverse (D-Ward 5) had to repeatedly remind his colleagues of rules that bar “impugning the motives” of fellow councilors.

Democrats say the resolution signals support for a department beleaguered by turnover. The city needs to “get a handle” on the right number of officers, said Councilor Tim Doherty (D-East District), the resolution’s main sponsor. Councilor Joan Shannon (D-South District) agreed, saying the measure will help with recruitment efforts.

“It’s critically important to this department that we do everything that we can to hire more officers to relieve the burden on the current officers,” she said.

Progressives, meantime, said the department should instead focus on why the city can’t hire cops when it’s offered generous bonuses and pay raises. They called the measure symbolic and performative.

“I just cannot get past this idea that the problem with recruitment is that we have a cap of 87 officers … when we cannot even reach the cap,” Councilor Broderick said. “We should be focusing on the root cause.”

The resolution tasks Police Chief Jon Murad, police officers and unnamed “community partners” to recommend a new cap by December 9. Their report should also analyze benefit packages and recruitment trends, including how the department is using money allocated to attract more cops.

Watch the full meeting below, courtesy of Town Meeting TV.