Something I never thought I’d write about, small as it is – something like 45K people in the 15.5 sq mi city limits.
But Burlington, Vermont business owners, the folks in that beautiful, classic, picturesque New England downtown, are begging for stepped-up police protection and warning that crime (!) is about to destroy everything they’ve worked so hgard for.
Business owners in a New England college city are reportedly close to a breaking point as crime affects its downtown, potentially bringing trouble for students’ parents and leaf-peeping tourists in the area.
I thought this was a tofu, chai, and sandal progressive mecca! I mean, it always has been.
VURT DA FURK
A little preliminary digging turns up easily found reports of trouble and sentiments that ‘the city is changing’ from a year ago. This one was in the popular local newspaper for the University of Vermont, and has all the woke catch-phrases from authorities ‘addressing concerns.’
“The city has changed:” addressing student safety amid series of violent crime incidents
Over the past two years, numerous changes have been made to UVM’s safety system by the Division of Safety and Compliance.
“Our focus for the last two years has been to reimagine safety and security in the realm of three main areas: teams, tools and technology,” said Michael Schirling, UVM’s chief safety and compliance officer.
These changes in safety precautions have taken place amidst a series of dangerous incidents in the Burlington area in the past few months, including a fatal shooting at Red Square, an attempted murder on Greene Street and groups of youth involved in several assaults.
…“My freshman year, maybe we were just oblivious,” said senior and SGA treasurer Matt Sorensen. “But people didn’t worry about there being shootings randomly or stabbings or [groups of] people attacking you if you walked alone.”
…“There’s never been a time in my lifetime where it’s been more important to be vigilant when you go downtown,” said Schirling, in a Sept. 10 SGA meeting dedicated to student safety. “Especially past dark, especially if you’re out alone: the city has changed.”
So, in a college town with a vibrant nightlife and a downtown that thrives on the income from visiting families and tourists, thanks to its own unique all-American quaint charm, this sort of reputation can be fatal for business.
News reports with ledes talking about ‘groups of young people carrying guns/police asking for help‘ is also a detriment to a thriving and bustling public square.
Police say groups of young people– many carrying guns– are looking for trouble in downtown Burlington. They’re asking the public for help identifying the suspects and solving a string of recent crimes.
Just last month, I would have to assume that local cops have never gotten a handle on the ‘groups of young people,’ as three teens beat an older fellow to death basically in the shadow of Burlington City Hall.
Man dies after beating by kids near Burlington City Hall
A case of a man viciously attacked by a group of juveniles near Burlington City Hall last week has turned into a homicide, Vermont News First learned this afternoon.
…Burlington Police said it had officers on foot patrol on Church Street about 1:30 p.m. Monday Aug. 11 when they came across the assault in progress with the injured man.
The three juveniles fled on foot and by bicycle, but the officers were able to chase down the suspects, Lt. Mike Henry said.
The three youths, believed to be roughly 14 to 16 years old, are facing proceedings in Vermont Family Court. Those proceedings are confidential and have very limited consequences due to the lack of rehabilitation services for youthful offenders within Vermont.
One suspect carried a gun, and police determined it was displayed while they attacked the victim, Henry reported. He said additional arrests were anticipated.
It’s hilarious the mayor of Burlington is trying to blame Governor Scott for the rise in crime and awful economic situation in Burlington.
Governor Scott is probably the only Vermont politician who as advocated for and supported law and order in the last 5 years: https://t.co/H2sr4xi2HY
— Paul Bean 🇺🇸 (@pbeanVT) August 21, 2025
The mayor, a progressive wonk named Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, is blaming Governor Phil Scott.
He didn’t take too kindly to that.
A week and a day after three children ages 14-16 beat a man to death on Church Street in broad daylight August 11, Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak told a concerned audience of downtown business people that “Governor Phil Scott has not been a strong partner” in solving Burlington’s crime problem.
…WCAX: Yesterday at a town hall with hundreds of businesses the mayor and I quote said, “I want you to hear that Governor Scott has not been a strong partner in this.” Is that true?
Scott: I haven’t been a partner to what they’re doing. If they need some help with law enforcement, be happy to talk about that, but it would be under some conditions.
WCAX She says she’s reached out. she’s invited you to speak…..
Scott: I don’t recall any of that, but we’ll look back and see what correspondence we’ve received.
…VDC: Is she [Mulvaney-Stanak] just blaming you? She trying to shift blame for her own policies?
Gov. Scott: I think it’s easy to blame others when some of your strategies are failing.
The questioning along those lines by reporters parroting the mayor got the goat of Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison, who jumped into the fray. What she made clear was that Burlington had made its bed despite the governor’s best efforts, and now the city was going to have to lie in it until someone wised up.
Morrison laid the hammer down on the progressive mayor.
…Morrison: So, I don’t know how long you’ve been tracking the situation in Burlington, but none of this happened overnight.This is years and years and years of policy decisions, budgetary decisions, the city council decisions that have led to the situation in Burlington.
And to come around on point and somehow point a finger at the governor belies the reality for the people who lived through that as city employees.
…The problems in Burlington did not occur overnight. They will not be fixed overnight. And it requires that everybody commit to principles of accountability. shifting the pendulum back to the middle so that the use of public spaces is just as important for lawabiding people and businesses to thrive as it is for service resistant people who make others afraid or commit crimes.
We also need commitments to prosecute and detain people who continue to harm the community. It frustrates me, as somebody who spent 23 years policing that city, and as the interim chief in 2020, to hear people somehow point the finger at a governor when I lived through the decisions that got us to where we are now. And it was not the fault of the police chief or the police chief after me. And it certainly was not the fault of this governor.
The city has made their bed and they are going to have to ask for specifics to help turn the corner. We are here to partner with the city of Burlington just as we are in Brattleboro, Bennington, Springfield, Rutland, St. Johnsbury, Barre and Montpelier and now in Woodstock and Hartford.
We are willing to engage in crime reduction strategies but we can’t be the ones directing the work. We don’t come in and do something to a community. We work in partnership with communities who need state level resources because they’ve exhausted the local resources. So that’s how this works.
I really resent the implication, whether it’s your implication or the mayor’s, that somehow Governor Scott is responsible for anything that has happened in the Queen City.
Crime-ridden Burlington’s mayor blames Scott for not being ‘strong partner’
“I really resent the implication, whether it’s your implication or the mayor’s, that somehow Governor Scott is responsible for anything that has happened in the Queen City.”https://t.co/hNOg1mVuI4
— Vermont Daily Chronicle (@VTDC802) August 21, 2025
When you read what the business leaders in town are now saying, and what Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak, along with her police chief, are arguing AGAINST and the verbiage they’re utilizing…
…Officials in Burlington, Vermont — home to the University of Vermont — have said they are working on new strategies to combat crime in the city’s downtown, where business owners have raised concerns about graffiti, shoplifting and open drug use. While Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak has noted there is no simple solution, she has argued that a heavier police presence could undermine progress, local news outlet WCAX Channel 3 reported.
…As of Aug. 28, Mulvaney-Stanak said that police officers were conducting walkthroughs of the central gathering area of City Hall Park and that she was planning to collaborate with state leaders.
“I hope that folks will seize upon the restorative justice aspect of this,” Interim Police Chief Shawn Burke said, WCAX reported. “I have done this job long enough to know that we are not going to arrest our way or fine our way out of this crisis.”
…you can tell quickly enough that it is a good part of the fault of the mayor’s progressive policies. Mulvaney-Stanak is just gaslighting the press to get out of an awkward spot.
What’s really funny? When they asked Bernie supporters who they wished was running the city?
He wants to be an independent in a Republican run city.
Bernie Supporter Wants More Republicans #bernie #vermont #burlington #burlingtonvt #HomelessCrisis #crime #berniesanders #streetinterview pic.twitter.com/F2TmC0P6V7
— Lacka (@TheLackaLens) July 14, 2025
DERP
How do you get Republicans in office to run a city, dude?
These fools have a hard time putting 2 and 2 together, don’t they?
This is why they can’t have nice things, and they can never keep them nice if they get them.
Thanks to @TheLackaLens for a few interviews up here in #BTV
You can see the problem when some residents, like these, think the problem is that we never FULLY defended the police, we just made small easy cuts.
In another interview her guests admit they are Bernie Supporters… https://t.co/Ph7FOfaMcE
— Paul Dame (@Dame4VT) July 19, 2025
‘Restorative justice’ has never restored anything, as far as I can see.
SHOCKING.
Burlington, VT — home of UVM — is spiraling: graffiti, shoplifting, open drug use.
170 businesses begged for help.
The mayor resists more cops. Pushes ‘restorative justice.’
Parents and leaf-peepers, beware.
Soft-on-crime policies are wrecking cities. pic.twitter.com/vJnTJR1nSm— WahooPredict (@Wahoopredict) September 15, 2025
LEAF-PEEPERS, BEWARE
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