The fight for public safety for all continues.

Public safety remains in the spotlight in Burlington, as voters turned out to show support for a community-led effort to create a police oversight board. Building on an initiative approved by the City Council in 2020 but vetoed by Mayor Weinberger, this issue found its way onto the ballot after Burlingtonians gathered the required 2,000+ signatures. Fittingly up for a vote on Town Meeting Day, a long-standing opportunity for Vermonters to better their communities, the charter change would create a civilian board with the power to discipline police officers when misconduct has occurred.

The ballot item garnered significant support across the city, earning 3,864 votes, or nearly 37% of votes cast. While this was insufficient to pass the measure, it is a clear victory for residents of Burlington keen on revisiting the low standard of oversight to which the Burlington Police Department is subject. The campaign yielded a reckoning amongst elected officials, who have doubled down on commitments to increase oversight of the police department.

People for Police Accountability is a grassroots movement of concerned community members advocating for greater police accountability in Burlington, Vermont and beyond. We are currently campaigning for the the creation of an independent Community Control Board to oversee our local police, with both investigatory and disciplinary authority.