“The militarization of local police departments is a genuine concern in our nation"
The Burlington Police Department announced today that the Department has severed its ties with the much-scrutinized “1033 Program,” a Department of Defense initiative that allows aging military equipment to be repurposed for domestic policing. Until this summer, the Burlington Police Department possessed two military-issued night vision devices, which were the extent of its holdings under the Department of Defense (DOD) program.
“The militarization of local police departments is a genuine concern in our nation,” said Burlington Chief of Police Brandon del Pozo. “There are times when military-style equipment is essential for public safety, but they are very rare. Between our partners in the Vermont State Police and the Vermont National Guard, as well as the other federal and local agencies the Burlington Police Department partners with, we have the resources to handle all but the most inconceivable public safety scenarios. Amassing a worst-case scenario arsenal of military equipment results in officers seeing everyday policework through a military lens. When I realized what a small role the military played in equipping our police, I concluded it was better to return the items and let our 1033 Program memorandum of understanding expire.”
The Burlington Police Department has no plans to acquire tactical or military items beyond the types of conventional policing equipment it already possesses.
Mayor Miro Weinberger offered his support of this decision: “Today’s announcement cements the Burlington Police Department’s long-standing practice of avoiding the use of military equipment, in contrast to many other police departments. Our focus instead is on the basics of good policing in the 21st century: foot patrols, strong relationships between the officers and the community, and the use of modern tools to increase public transparency and police effectiveness.”
One thing should be clarified: the 1033 Program is by no means mandatory. “Severing ties” really means just deciding not to participate. The MOU may have expired but it could have run on forever without the PD feeling obligated to order anything from the 1033 catalog.
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7 comments:
its a real shame to you have to go all the way to Vermont to get this type of dedication.
Better go with the gear, goobers.
I agree. What does it say to the community they offer to "serve and protect" when they keep mounding up massive crowd killing machines only useful for one purpose? To kill with impunity.
Better to walk around, talk and shake hands in my town, or we don't need you.
A wise choice.
There have been concerns for years about the way so many law enforcement officers were evolving into 'special ops' wannabes. Their attitudes becoming hardened, unsympathetic, secretive, even paranoid.
The events of the past year have demonstrated that those concerns were not completely off-base.
I also think much of it has been fueled by this '1033' program that gave them all this military equipment. It helped to shape their focus and attitudes.
I'm aware that we no longer live in a day when Andy Taylor's methods can always get the job done.
But he did have the right attitude, and that's what we need a lot of today.
I mean no harm to the LEOs. You have a difficult job. But you don't need armored vehicles and million-dollar mobile 'incident command centers'. Just work at being honest, upright and kind to ALL the people you deal with, and even the knuckleheads will respect you. That 'Rambo' image (with all the 'tactical' gear) that a lot of LEOs portray scares people and makes them very defensive. That doesn't help you to be effective unless you're about to raid a crack house.
WWAD-- What Would Andy Do? :-)
Thanks, 746. My thoughts exactly!
6:58 is clueless as they come.
Isn't funny how Burlington Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire are full of Liberals. What is missing from the Great White North. I guess they could have an uprising of lumber jacks or maybe rich old white hairs would storm the bake sale eh.
They have the lowest concentration of Black Americans. So stick to policing your rogue band of pot smoking hippies and leave the real police work to cops who see why we need these items. Look at what happened in Paris last night you freaking Libtards. Liberal is just a nice word for Coward.
Burlington Vermont really. Is there even a section eight house anywhere in fking Vermont ?
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