NBC News Documents Ramifications of Vermont City ‘Defund the Police’ Move: ‘We Don’t Feel Safe in the Evenings’

NBC Nightly News featured on Thursday the ramifications of the Vermont city of Burlington having significantly cut funding to its police department last year as part of the “Defund the Police” movement.

“In Burlington, Vermont, roll call looks a little different than it used to,” narrated NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk. “Often just five officers are on shift for a city of more than 44,000 after Burlington’s leaders cut the police force by nearly 30 percent, essentially imposing a hiring freeze.”

Burlington Acting Police Chief Jon Murad told Gosk, “We had huge numbers of people making real demands about changing policing, saying we don’t want police to participate in certain kinds of calls for service. We don’t want as many police – all of which had real merit, but none of which was being done with any kind of specificity or deliberation.”

In June 2020, Burlington cut its police officer force by 30 percent.

“Working officers began to leave faster than anticipated, down to just 64 in a short period of time,” narrated Gosk. “Many who left felt like the city turned on them.”

Murad said that exit interviews from departing police officers “have been pretty clear that it was about a lack of support in a political sense and a sense of saying that I – this is not how I want to serve anymore. I don’t feel valued.’”

“Burlington police data shows Black drivers have long been disproportionately stopped and then searched and there were recent controversies of use of force involving Black men and people with mental health issues,” according to Gosk.

“With fewer officers, some routine patrols topped altogether,” she added.

A home goods store owner told Gosk, as she put it, “the police couldn’t respond quickly to disturbances, prioritizing more serious calls.”

“He and his staff felt their absence,” she said.

The owner said that his staff have said that they “don’t feel safe in the evenings.”

“In Burlington, Vermont?” Gosk asked.

“In Burlington, Vermont,” said the owner.

“It’s all taken its toll on those who remain,” narrated Gosk.

Gosk asked Burlington Police officer Daniel Delgado, “What is the morale right now at the Burlington Police Department?”

“It’s in rough shape,” replied Delgado. “I know that what has been expressed to me from officers and even my own frustrations about the job not being able to police as effectively as we once could.”

The Burlington City Council voted in October to add more police officers to the city’s force.

“Ultimately, we don’t want to defund. We want to fund,” said Murad. “Good policing is expensive. I think that has ultimately proven to be a grand experiment on a national and local level that’s gone awry.”

Watch above, via NBC.