The Council on Criminal Justice reports the homicide rate is 39% higher in 29 American cities than during the first half of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Council also reported increases in aggravated assaults (+4%) and robberies (+19%), residential burglaries (+6%), and motor vehicle thefts (+15%) all increased in the first half of 2022.
Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad gave his monthly report at Tuesday evening’s Police Commission meeting, and once again he discussed trying to run the department effectively amid staff depletion and rising crime.
In an appearance on “The Morning Drive” radio program Wednesday, Gov. Phil Scott addressed a series of topics ranging from rising crime and homelessness to the results of last week’s primary election.
Governor Phil Scott today issued his 10-point public safety enhancement and violence prevention action plan, laying out the framework of a comprehensive response to address violent crime and other public safety concerns across the state.
We’ve been charting the Democrat decline of Burlington, Vermont, for a few years, and it is swirling the bowl as predicted. Property crime has been rising, and now gun crime is becoming a problem, but the local police department lacks resources. Can you guess why?
The Burlington Police on Monday responded to an incident in which a former University of Vermont student shot and killed a current UVM student and seriously wounded another victim before turning the gun on himself.
“The Ferguson Effect is a real thing. Police officers started to back away from enforcement,” Knezovich said. “You saw it across the nation. You wonder why you see less and less enforcement and more and more crime, it’s woke politicians and activists and the media have made it so.”
Nineteen matters came before SPAC from July 1, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2021. Six of the incidents involved multiple troopers or multiple reports related to the same trooper. Of the 19 cases, 18 came to the attention of supervisors due to internal reporting by members of the state police.
It is inevitable at some point that the failed policies of Chittenden County prosecutor Sarah George and other extremist progressives will become sufficiently evident that Vermont will take action to protect its citizenry from criminals, rather than treat all criminals as victims of society.
Police Chief Mike Thomas said the program could bring the department back to full staffing levels and help reduce overtime hours for current officers and dispatchers. The department would ideally have between 12 and 15 officers, he said, but right now has only five full-time officers.
A 14-year-old Essex boy was cited and released Sunday, July 10, after Essex police say that on July 8 he threatened adults on a bike path with a baseball bat, demanding their cellphones and passcodes. He struck a woman with the bat after she didn’t immediately comply.
The result of the end of qualified immunity will be the catastrophic defunding of law enforcement statewide, with staff reductions anticipated at levels of 50% or more, far in excess of the 30% losses suffered in Burlington in its 2021 defunding.