Burlington police must intervene when they witness officers using excessive force, per new order

Maleeha Syed
Burlington Free Press

Burlington police need to intervene when they witness excessive force by their peers, according to new orders laid out by leadership.

New orders for the city's police arrive as tensions rise across the United States over the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee onto the back of Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes.

The death of Floyd, who was African American, has led to nationwide outrage and protests against police brutality, including in Burlington. An action in the city Saturday included criticisms of the Burlington police

More:Black Lives Matter: Burlington crowd protests for George Floyd, marches to police parking lot

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"The special committee on policing that we set up last year noted that the duty to intervene is not explicitly and clearly part of our current use-of-force policy," said Mayor Miro Weinberger during his Monday briefing. "Or at least, it was not before today."

Reforms have been delayed by the pandemic, he said.

New orders for Burlington police 

Two orders will remain in place until the issuance of the updated use-of-force policy, said Interim Police Chief Jennifer Morrison. 

"Candidly, we're ready to roll," she said of an updated policy during the briefing. 

The orders, as explained by Morrison, are:

  • All personnel are required to intervene when they witness excessive use of force, misconduct or another violation of a department policy or rule.
  • De-escalation should always be prioritized in any use-of-force scenario if safe and officers must be aware of their own ability to increase the level of force needed, taking care to avoid any unnecessary escalations. 

The memorandum also reiterates existing directives about officers not using more force than reasonably necessary and how they should handle reports of corruption and misconduct.  

"I think that's an important way just to reassure the community that we're not just making the assumption that this will never happen in Burlington," she said. "I don't believe it will ever happen in Burlington." 

VTDigger's Aidan Quigley asked about the city council's agenda — which includes an update on use-of-force litigation — and specifically pointed to Officer Jason Bellavance. Bellavance was accused of excessive force after a downtown incident in September 2018, when he pushed a member of the public, who subsequently hit his head against a wall. 

More:Burlington police accused of excessive force that resulted in men being knocked unconscious

"This is an incident that is well behind us," Morrison said during the briefing.  

She said Quigley tried to conflate the incident with Bellavance with the one in Minneapolis and pushed to move forward instead of looking back. 

Contact Maleeha Syed at mzsyed@freepressmedia.com or 802-495-6595. Follow her on Twitter @MaleehaSyed89

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