The Burlington Police Department announced on Monday that it has opted out of a controversial Defense Department program that transfers surplus military equipment to police departments across the country. The "1033" program came under scrutiny last summer when images of heavily armed law enforcement officers in Ferguson, Missouri, exacerbated racial tensions in that city.
Brandon del Pozo became chief of the Burlington Police Department in September and decided to let the department's memorandum of understanding with the Department of Defense expire. He explained his decision to Vermont Edition:
Why did you want to end the Burlington Police Department’s participation in the program?
"I think that after we looked at what happened in Ferguson, and how the police department reacted to the civil unrest there, one of the things that really struck a chord with a lot of Americans, is the image of these police officers that really looked indistinguishable from infantrymen, indistinguishable from soldiers, says del Pozo. "There was this really iconic image of a police officer in a Kevlar helmet on top of an armored personnel carrier with a sniper rifle. And when I got to Burlington, that’s not how I believed policing should be done."
I always think that the best type of police work is fundamentally about good human interactions.
Is this decision more about sending a message than making a change in the department?
"I just wanted to set the right tone, just to let citizens know where this administration was coming from," says del Pozo. "That we could just opt out of this program and say, 'we don’t have anything and we’re not in the position to take anything.'"
Del Pozo says the Burlington Police Department had received little equipment through the 1033 program: two pairs of night vision goggles and a military truck that had already been decommissioned.
"Sure, we didn’t have that much equipment to give back, but I still think that setting the right tone with Burlingtonions and Vermonters was important. Especially since this is what’s on people’s minds now, about their police," said del Pozo.
No "shadow army"
"I always think that the best type of police work is bolstered by technology, it’s bolstered by equipment, but it’s fundamentally about good human interactions," said del Pozo. "Whether it’s on patrol in uniform, whether it’s during the course of investigations, whether it’s dealing with protestors or whomever: citizens, complainants, people just stopping in their cars. I don’t want people to think that there’s some shadow army that we’re building, that they just haven’t seen yet. That we have armored personnel carriers and night vision goggles, or heavy weapons that we’ve gotten from the army just lurking somewhere."
The Burlington chief says the department does have tactical equipment to handle situations that might arise, and that equipment can be borrowed from or mobilized by the Vermont national Guard if needed.
