Vermont leaders, Burlington Police Dept. taking action following weekend protests
Burlington Police Dept. updated its use of force policy
Burlington Police Dept. updated its use of force policy
Burlington Police Dept. updated its use of force policy
"We must all make clear: enough is enough," said Gov. Phil Scott.
"We are facing one of the toughest tests the nation has ever faced," said Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger.
Vermont leaders made a point to condemn the recent killing of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis last week.
Floyd's death sparked protests across the country, including in Burlington, over the weekend.
In other cities, the protests turned violent.
"(The Hedonometer) was lower than anything we'd ever seen before," said University of Vermont professor Peter Dodds.
Dodds helped create the Hedonometer, which uses algorithms to track the happiness of the overall Twitter population on a given day.
He said based on language used, Saturday night was the saddest night in history on the social media platform.
"(The tweets are) all negative words. (The words are) just piling on top of each other. There's an enormous volume on Twitter as well. There's more tweets than usual," he said.
Vermont leaders want to continue the conversation.
"Candidly, we're ready to roll," said acting Burlington Police Chief Jennifer Morrison.
The Burlington Police Department is in the process of updating its use-of-force policy.
"In any use of force scenario, deescalation should always be prioritized whenever it is safe and feasible to do so," said Morrison.
Scott is enacting a Racial Equity Task Force, which will examine disparities in COVID-19 death rates, evaluate supports in racially diverse populations and encourage racial minorities to run for public office.
"It just takes us, uniting, to make this country better for everyone," he said.
Scott believes making social justice and racial equality priorities is a step in the right direction.