Burlington Police Department Timeline

A very incomplete history of staffing, leadership, oversight, incidents, national scandal and embarressment


June 2012

Burlington Police violently put down a protest of the Northeast Governor’s Conference in full riot gear, injuring protestors with rubber bullets, pepper pellets, and pepper spray. Read more

November 2013

Officer Ethan Thibault shot and killed Wayne Brunette after he refused to drop a shovel he was holding. Brunette was a community member with mental disability and in a state of crisis. The city paid the Brunette $270,000 for taking his life. Read more

November 2014

Officer Ethan Czyzewski and Officer Ryan Rabideau violently arrested Shane Langevin, who is Black, while community members were filming downtown. The video was posted online and received thousands of views. BPD police Chief Michael Schirling deemed punching people while they are face down on the pavement was consistent with the officers’ training. Read more

April 2015

Officer Emily Healy totalled two police cruisers while trying to go 79mph on North Ave. Read more

September 2015

Sgt. Brian Labarge and Detective Corporal Ric Volp shot James Hemingway in Colchester when he was in an agitated state, after turning their body cams off. Read more

March 2016

Officer David Bowers shot and killed Phil Grenon, a community member with mental disability and a client of the Howard Center, while he was in a state of crisis. The Vermont Mental Health Crisis Response Commission determined Grenon’s killing to have been preventable. Read more

June 2018

Officer Darren Kennedy pepper sprayed a 6-year old, who was holding a knife. They were unable to de-escalate or otherwise disarm the child with multiple officers using defensive weapons, including a sheild. Read more

September 2018

Sgt. Jason Bellavance violently tackled and arrested Mabior Jok with the help of Officer Joe Corrow, neither of whom identified themselves or gave any instructions prior to the attack. Jok is a young Black immigrant and sustained a long-term head injury. Bodycam videos of the incident were withheld from the public for seven months, before they were published by VT Digger. Read more

September 2018

Sgt. Jason Bellavance violently tackled Jeremie Meli, a young Black immigrant, by slamming his head into a brick wall without announcing himself or providing any instruction to Meli. Officers then tackled and arrested Jeremie’s brother Albin after he placed his hand on Officer Cory Campbell’s shoulder, pleading for him to stop arresting Jeremie, who had regained consciousness. Campbell then lied to other officers arriving on the scene, claiming Jeremie simply lost consciousness. Bodycam videos of the incident were withheld from the public for seven months, before they were published by VT Digger. Read more

October 2018

Six BPD Officers violently arrested Mohamed Luhizo for roughhousing with his brother and friends, characterizing the situation as a fight. Luhizo suffered a broken jaw and in the third instance of police brutality against young Black men in around a one month period. One officer was heard saying “get that motherfucker” during the arrest. Then-Deputy Chief Jon Murad referred to the violent arrest as “good police work”. Read more

March 2019

Officer Cory Campbell violently arrested Douglas Kilburn at UVM Medical Center, punching himself so violently that he died days later. The cheif medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. Police Cheif Brandon del Pozo pleaded with Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine on behalf of himself and Mayor Miro Weinberger, in attempt to make the homicide ruling to go away. Both parties also contested the ruling in the press. Read more

March 2019

BPD officers assisted U.S. Secret Service Agents in the detainment and search of Phin Brown, a Black 16-year-old who simply making his way to his friend’s car. Brown would later post a video to social media, stating his disapointment with BPD’s role in the incident, stressing the obvious fact that it was racially motivated. Read more

May 2019

Bodycam videos of the violent arrests of Mabior Jok and the Meli brothers are released. Black Lives Matter of Greater Burlington demands BPD fire officers Bellevance, Campbell, and Corrow. BLMGB created a change.org petition calling for the firing of these officers. It eventually received over 80,000 signatures. Read more

May 2019

BTV Copwatch holds its first training

December 2019

Chief del Pozo resigns after admitting to cyber-bulling a local activist with a fake twitter account. Read more

December 2019

Discraced former-Chief del Pozo’s interim replacement Jan Wright resigns after only hours on the job, admitting to cyber-bulling a local activist and others with multiple social media accounts. One of her handles was Lori Spicer, you can still find a glowing review of BPD Lori made on BPD’s page with a little digging. Read more

June 2020

City Council caps BPD officer headcount at 74, forcing a reduction in number of uniformed officers through attrition. They also cut the police budget from $17.92 million to $17.01 million for fiscal year 2021. There are around 90 sworn officers on the force at this point. Read more

September 2020

Racial justice activist, organizer, and Black community leader Rev. Mark Hughes resigns from the Police Commission, citing that the commission’s design, statutory authority, and delegated powers render it ineffective in providing police oversight. Read more.

September 2020

Jon Murad becomes Acting Chief of BPD.

September – October 2020

The Battery Park Movement occupies Battery Park for 35 days. Holding daily protest marches to City Hall to elevate previous calls by local Black leadership to fire Officers Bellavance, Corrow, and Campbell, and to direct funding away from the police department to life affirming approaches to community health and safety. None of the officers were fired, Bellavance was bought out for $300,000. Campbell is still on the force (recently punched in the face, stay tuned for more info). Corrow is currently in charge of the Burlington Police Union and is in the process of fighting a police oversight bill passed by 62% of the popular vote in November 2025.

January 2021

Mayor Miro Weinberger vetoes City Council attempt to establish citizen-run police oversight board. Read more

March 2021

City pays the YMCA CEO $75,000 to put together a mediocre, partially plagiarized report on how to fix policing in Burlington. Read more

May 2021

Officer Kelsey Johnson and Officer Sergio Caldieri violently arrested and drugged a Black 14-year-old with behavioral and intellectual disabilities with Ketamine for stealing vape pens from a gas station. Read more

June 2021

City Council cuts the police budget again, from $17.01 million to $16.2 million.

July 2021

BPD sworn officer headcount has fallen to 75. The City Council raises the officer cap to 87. Read more

October 2021

City pays expensive police reform consultant with extensive Pentagon contracts $100,000 to determine BPD should have the same number of cops on the force as when they began their analysis. Read more

December 2021

City and BPD destroy Sears Lane following protracted community self-defense campaign, displacing dozens of neighbors into the winter cold, and removing the most stable place for unhoused people to land and build community in Burlington for most of a 15 year period. Read more

December 2021

Sworn Officer Count falls to 64.

August 2022

Sgt. Simon Bombard shoots David Johnson while he was experiencing a mental health crisis and holding a knife. Multiple shots were fired recklessly, missing hitting a bystander in the head by inches and passing through another officer’s pant leg. Read more

August 2022

Acting Chief Murad threatens to cuff trauma surgeon at UVM Medical Center for trying to remove officers who were obstructing doctors’ attempt to treat a 18-year-old Black kid’s gunshot wound. Read more

October 2022

City hires Vermont State Police to help patrol downtown.

January 2023

Sworn Officer Count falls to 63.

January 2023

Off-duty officers found to be providing private security service for River Watch condo complex, during a “staffing crisis”. Read more

March 2023

Voters disapprove Prop Zero, a charter change to establish community control of police board. Read more

December 2023

City contract with Vermont State Police ends

June 2023

Jon Murad officially promoted to Chief of Police. Read more

January 2024

City Council delays vote on police oversight charter change. Read more

June 2024

BPD officers conduct an un-announced mock shooting drill, firing blanks in front of High School Students participating in Burlington High School’s Year End Studies program. Students reported being traumatized by the event that made national news. Read more

July 2024

Sworn Officer Count is around 67.

September 2024

City Council Democrats propose, unsuccessfully, to remove the sworn officer cap entirely. Another study is commissioned to determine how many police officers are needed in Burlington, to accompany studies about building a “public safety hub” downtown, and a new police station. More info

November 2024

Voters approve charter change to establishment of police oversight board. Burlington Police Officers’ Association immediately announces they will oppose the charter change in Montpelier. More info

November 2024

Internal BPD survey reveals crisis of moral, stemming from poor leadership, burnout, and percieved lack of support from City leadership and community. Read more

November 2024

Chief Murad announces he will not seek reappointment. Read more

December 2024

Chief Murad proposes raising the sworn officer cap to 105, despite only having 64 sworn officers on staff plagued by a moral crisis and a headcount that has only been falling for almost 4 years. Read more

December 2024

Burlington Police release bodycam footage of an officer violently tackling Aaron Montgomery in the door way of the Community Resource Center at Feeding Chittenden, as he was requesting to go to the bathroom. Watch video

January 2025

Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak issues executive order requiring all BPD press releases be approved by the Mayor’s Office, in an attempt to stop the police department from undermining our right to a fair trial. Read more

January 2025

City Council removes officer cap entirely. Read more


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