Around New England

Vermont Police Chief Resigns Over Anonymous Tweets Against Critic — And Deputy Chief Can’t Take Over, Either

December 16, 2019

The police chief in Burlington, Vermont resigned Monday. December 16 after admitting he created an anonymous Twitter account to respond to a critic of his, as VTDigger reports.

Chief Brandon del Pozo admitted to it on Friday, December 13, leading several members of Burlington’s city council to call on him to resign.

Back in July, del Pozo created a Twitter account called @WinkleWatchers in order to respond to Charles Winkleman, a local political activist who is critical of him.

One such tweet by Winkleman that provoked a response from del Pozo read, “all we had to do was give up $1.5 million in federal money for the Perkin Pier,” referring to a waterfront park in the city.

@WinkleWatchers responded to the tweet with, “I know you didn’t think it was possible, but yes, even a nice waterfront park can be … #chickytrolled. There has yet to be a troll sighting at the actual park yet. It can safely be enjoyed by people.”

Chicky is a nickname given to Winkleman.

Seven Days, an alternative weekly newspaper in Vermont, asked del Pozo back in July if the account belonged to him. He denied it.

Later in the month, however, he confessed what he did to the mayor, Miro Weinberger. He then went on six weeks paid medical leave and he came back to work in September.

The chief had a bike accident in 2018 in which he suffered a concussion and three skull fractures.

He told New York Daily News the leave pertained to his bike accident and not his social media use.

“To be sure that the issues resulting from my bike crash and the challenges of policing in the spring and summer weren’t the type of thing that would cause a mistake like that again,” he said.

According to The Associated Press, the police chief’s actions did not violate any city policies. However, Weinberger told the outlet that, “he clearly had conducted himself in a manner that was unacceptable, inappropriate, and not consistent with what I expect from the Chief of Police.”

The mayor named the deputy chief as acting chief on Monday, December 16, but then later in the day demoted her back to deputy chief when she told him she had created an anonymous Facebook account and engaged in online discussions through it about police department policies, according to VTDigger.