In May 2021, Mayor Weinberger announced the start of a Police Chief search process, which began with a robust public engagement effort. Mayor Weinberger visited all Neighborhood Planning Assembly meetings and hold discussions with stakeholder sectors, including education, Black community leaders, LBGTQ+ community, business, and youth.
The City is also conducted a survey to allow citizens to weigh in on the qualities they would like to see in the City’s next Police Chief and the priorities for their first year of service. The Mayor’s Office developed a Public Engagement Report that summarized feedback from the process, and incorporated that input into the position description and an ideal candidate profile.
Applications for the Police Chief position will be accepted on a rolling basis, and applications received before September 13 will receive priority consideration.
Search Committee
The goal of the search committee is to advance 3 to 5 finalists to the next steps of the process, which will include interviews with Mayor Weinberger and additional community vetting.
- Jordan Redell, Chief of Staff
- Kerin Durfee, Director of Human Resources
- Tyeastia Green, Director of Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
- Karen Paul, City Councilor
- Jane Stromberg, City Councilor
- Melo Grant, Police Commissioner
- Stephanie Seguino, Police Commissioner
- Christina Nolan, Former US Attorney for the State of Vermont
- Cathy Davis, Executive Director of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce
- Tim Biladeau, University of Vermont Police Chief
- Oren Byrne, Burlington Police Officers Association
- Milton Rosa Ortiz, community member, selected through application process
- Scott Waterman, community member, selected through application process
Search Timeline
May - June: Stakeholder engagement effort to collect feedback from the community about what they would like to see in the City’s next Police Chief.
July: Develop Stakeholder Engagement Report, and seek additional input.
August: Publish Police Chief job posting.
September 13: Deadline for priority applications.
September – October: Search committee conducts first round of interviews.
October – November: Further vetting with finalist candidates.
