BURLINGTON — City councilors criticized but are standing behind Police Chief Brandon del Pozo after he admitted setting up an anonymous Twitter account in July to belittle a local activist.
Mayor Miro Weinberger said del Pozo’s actions were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate.”
Activist Charles Winkelman explained on his blog Monday his suspicions that del Pozo was behind a “@WinkleWatchers” account that went after Winkleman. Del Pozo admitted he created the account in an interview with Seven Days Thursday after Winkleman had questioned his leadership. Del Pozo lied about being the author when the newspaper first asked him about it in July.
Del Pozo was placed on a six-week family and medical leave by Weinberger in late July after the chief told him that he established the account.
The chief suffered serious brain injuries in a summer 2018 bike crash in the Adirondacks, and attributed his behavior on Twitter to the injuries he received. Del Pozo told VTDigger on Friday that after receiving treatment he believes he is able to continue to serve as chief.
City Councilors Joan Shannon, D-South District; Kurt Wright, R-Ward 4; Franklin Paulino, D-North District; and Brian Pine, P-Ward 3, all said they were concerned by del Pozo’s behavior. They generally expressed the view that del Pozo is contrite and deserves compassion.
Councilor Jack Hanson, P-East District, called del Pozo’s behavior “disturbing” and said the council should consider whether del Pozo should remain on the job.
“We can both have compassion for mental health issues, and also hold standards for these positions of incredible power,” he said. “Especially this particular position, in which you have the power to use force on citizens and oversee a force of people that has the ability to use force on citizens.”
When Weinberger placed del Pozo on leave, he directed him to turn in his badge, gun, and city phone. The chief was also required to cease using social media.
City attorney Eileen Blackwood and Human Resources Director Deanna Paluba conducted an investigation that revealed del Pozo had an underlying mental health condition that affected his actions. That finding was made by del Pozo’s doctor and confirmed by the city’s medical examiner.
“The investigation quickly confirmed that while the Chief had not committed any illegal acts or explicitly violated any City policy, he clearly had conducted himself in a manner that was unacceptable, inappropriate, and not consistent with what I expect from the Chief of Police,” Weinberger said in a statement.
The mayor declined an interview request Friday and said he would have more to say on Monday.
In his statement, Weinberger said he was advised by Blackwood and Paluba that the city should treat the matter as an employee mental health condition.
“I was always clear that my ability to protect the Chief’s privacy, by virtue of his office and his actions, was limited by my responsibility to answer forthrightly questions from the public. I was asked about the Chief’s tweets for the first time yesterday by Seven Days, and at that time I shared this full account.”
City and police department officials repeatedly refused to offer the reasons for the chief’s leave, citing del Pozo’s privacy.
Weinberger said he decided to allow del Pozo to return to work because the chief self-reported his mistake, the tweets were posted for less than an hour and two medical professionals asserted his behavior was linked to a mental health condition. The chief took action to address his medical condition and his overall service had otherwise been excellent, Weinberger said.
Questions have been raised about whether del Pozo and Weinberger were legally obligated to report del Pozo’s conduct to the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council. State statute 20 V.S.A. § 2404 mandates that all law enforcement agencies must report any complaints of “unprofessional conduct” committed by the executive officer of that agency to the council.
Richard Gauthier, executive director of the council, said he did not receive any reports after del Pozo disclosed the Twitter account to Weinberger in July. He said he’s waiting to hear back from the state’s attorneys that advise his council whether or not a law was broken and if an investigation should be conducted.
Del Pozo said he would not comment on this concern because he did not know enough about the statute. The chief tangled with the council last year over a controversial training program.
Blackwood wrote in an email that the statute does not apply to del Pozo’s situation because the anonymous Twitter account does not fall into the definition of “unprofessional conduct” as defined by statute 20 V.S.A. § 2401. And, she said, no complaints had been filed against del Pozo about this account.
@WinkleWatchers account
On July 4, del Pozo set up the @WinkleWatchers account and blasted Winkleman in a series of tweets.
“It’s a proven through experiment: the #Chickytroll is a cowardly creature hiding behind an electron curtain,” del Pozo tweeted from the account. “We’ve been blocked, but he will surely continue to insult, debase, have faux indignation, and in sum: Troll.”
The other tweets by del Pozo criticized issues raised by Winkleman’s “@HippiesPlow” account. Winkleman is an outspoken advocate on a number of issues, primarily tenants’ rights.
Winkleman wrote he first suspected the account was del Pozo’s when several tweets criticized Winkleman for swearing. Winkleman had criticized del Pozo’s response that excused Officer Cory Campbell’s swearing when he encountered Douglas Kilburn in March.
Kilburn died after Campbell punched him, and the medical examiner determined that Kilburn would not have died if not for Campbell’s punch. Body camera footage showed Kilburn apparently throwing the first punch after becoming agitated by Campbell’s swearing. Attorney General TJ Donovan declined to bring charges against Campbell.
“The troll focused three(!) times on my complaints regarding cursing, complaints I specifically made on social media the day after del Pozo excused/downplayed swearing by officer Cory Campbell, who punched and killed Mr Douglas Kilburn,” Winkleman wrote. “For all of my public writing and posting, it was an oddly very specific troll.”
Winkleman wrote that he believed his criticism of the department’s use of social media and of an officer who was photographed wearing a “Blue Lives Matter” shirt during a visit to civil rights landmarks in Alabama prompted del Pozo to create the account.
Before the account was deleted, Winkleman was able to determine that the last two digits of the phone number associated with the account were the same numbers associated with both del Pozo’s and the Burlington Police Department’s Twitter accounts.
“It should make us all wonder – who is watching our police, why is our council allowing this to happen, is there any behavior del Pozo can engage in that would result in real consequences, and who, exactly, is heading down that road towards fascism?” Winkleman wrote Monday when speculating del Pozo was the source.
Winkleman said del Pozo’s actions reflected issues with oversight and accountability in government.
“The real issue here is that you have a police commision and a council that is entirely unable to keep the police from hurting people and harrassing people, and the chief from harassing people too,” he said in an interview with VTDigger on Friday.
Winkleman said he hoped this del Pozo controversy did not overshadow other police use-of-force cases. In the past year, police came under fire in the Kilburn case, the use of pepper spray on a 6-year-old who had a knife, and use of force that lead four black men to file suit against the department. Body camera footage showed officers pushing and tackling the men.
Winkleman said Weinberger should have been more transparent about this situation and focus more on keeping citizens safe.
“That is incredibly scary that we have a police chief and officers that will be protected by the council and mayor no matter what they do,” Winkleman said.
He believes del Pozo and his deputies should resign, that police commissioners not recently appointed should resign and that the police commission should be publicly elected.
Winkleman said the council should consider a suggestion by Councilor Perri Freeman, P-Central District, to look at alternative policing methods and take complaints against del Pozo’s leadership more seriously.
“They’re choosing to erode public trust at a time when trust nationally with elected officials is so low,” he said. “That is going to come back and hurt them and all of us.”
Del Pozo and Weinberger response
Del Pozo said he only used the account for 45 minutes to an hour before deleting the nine or 10 tweets and erasing the account.
“I realized pretty quickly this was foolish and wrong, and I erased the tweets and deleted the account,” he said. “Between the stress and some of the issues I was dealing with my health, it was a way to respond to negativity that wasn’t appropriate. It was wrong.”
Del Pozo said he was embarrassed and caught off guard when he lied to Seven Days in July. He said other than in that instance, he had never intentionally misled the media.
Del Pozo said he told the mayor what he had done after Weinberger returned from his vacation at the end of July.
The chief said symptoms from his head injury started to return amid stress earlier this year. He declined to share specifics of any diagnosis he received.
“When those symptoms start coming back under stress, sometimes you make decisions in the moment that you regret,” he said. “I needed to be sure that I wouldn’t do that again and by seeking treatment and managing that I was able to get cleared to return.”
Del Pozo acknowledged that he owed Winkleman an apology but said he hadn’t contacted him yet.
Del Pozo said he believed he now has access to the right help if the symptoms recur under similar stress.
“It was a very unique time,” he said. “What I did was uncharacteristic, and I’m now certain … the resources are there that no matter what the challenges are, I’m ready to meet them and lead the police department.”
Officials’ responses
City Councilor Brian Pine said del Pozo’s behavior was “totally unacceptable.”
“I think when we hire police officers and police chiefs, we want them to be human beings, and when they make mistakes we want them to be superhuman,” Pine said. “The chief made a mistake, he came clean with the mayor and the mayor took appropriate action.”
Pine said he believed del Pozo should take responsibility for his behavior and go through the restorative justice process offered by the Community Justice Center.
“I hope the chief can show the community and his officers that he does deserve our continued trust and support,” Pine said. “I think he’s shaken people’s confidence, but I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and a chance to be contrite with the community.”
Wright said while del Pozo made a serious mistake, his accident last summer and the pressures of the job contributed to it.
“Balanced against everything else the chief has done in Burlington in a four to five year period, I’m not going to pile on the chief and try to destroy him over admittedly a very serious mistake,” Wright said.
Shannon said she’s concerned by del Pozo’s behavior, but thinks he deserves a second chance.
“This is extremely unfortunate,” Shannon said. “I don’t think that was good judgment for sure … but I also think that people who don’t like the police, or don’t like Brandon or have political motivations are going to make a lot of hay about this. And I also think that that’s sad. Because this is serious, but any employee deserves a second chance.”
Shannon said she supports the mayor’s decision to give del Pozo the medical leave because the internal investigation found that his actions were linked to his recurring medical issues.
Councilor Jack Hanson said he did not think Weinberger handled the situation correctly. The council should have been alerted when Weinberger took del Pozo’s gun and badge.
“That’s a very consequential action to take, and one at the very least city councilors should be aware of,” he said.
Weinberger should have been more forthcoming about the situation to the public before being questioned about it by the media, Hanson said.
“We shouldn’t only be open and transparent when the media forces the issue,” he said.
Councilor Perri Freeman said the mayor should have been more upfront with council members about why del Pozo was put on medical leave.
It was “hypocritical” of the mayor to give del Pozo’s mental health struggles so much leeway while other policies in the city are hurting those who have less power and similar struggles, she said.
“I understand that there is this desire to be compassionate,” Freeman said. “But that has not been the case with … people who have mental health issues who are not in a position of power or are low income or don’t have the social or political maneuverability as the chief of police.”
Mark Hughes, executive director of Justice For All and a member of the Burlington Police Commission, was also concerned that del Pozo and Weinberger violated state statute by not reporting his conduct to the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council. He said he wants more information to be collected to determine if rules were broken.
“Before I lose confidence in the mayor, I want to hear from the mayor,” Hughes said.
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George said that while del Pozo’s actions were “immature at best,” she still supports the chief. George said as a public official, she’s aware of the harshness of the internet.
“I absolutely wish I had a bogus account at times,” George said. “People say very, very mean things on social media, sometimes without any accurate information without having any concerns for the fact that I am a public official but I am still a human being. And those things have literally kept me up at night.”
Ellie French contributed reporting.