Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo. File photo by Morgan True/VTDigger
Burlington police are internally investigating two officers who allegedly drank beer they confiscated from minors last month.
Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said the officers confiscated the beer in early December, around Dec. 7. Instead of following the department’s procedure and disposing of the beer, the officers allegedly drank some of it when they were off duty.
The two officers are currently on administrative duty at police headquarters.
Del Pozo said the officers were doing clerical work at police headquarters, including working with the department’s records section to make copies and do paperwork. The administrative duties do not including processing evidence or similar work, he said.
The department decided to publicly announce the investigation because there were rumors about it on the internet, del Pozo said. The chief alerted the local media around noon Tuesday.
“We were hearing rumors on the internet and around of an investigation that we knew we were conducting, there was conjecture about the seriousness of the offense,” he said. “Rather than let the rumors swirl, we thought we would be forthcoming about what was going on.”
The announcement came the day after longtime Burlington Free Press reporter Mike Donoghue posted a series of questions about police policies around officers who seize evidence on his Facebook page.
“The city wasn’t very forthcoming about it when I made an inquiry yesterday, so that’s why I asked the questions that I did,” he told VTDigger Tuesday. “This is a city that likes to claim that it’s transparent, and they aren’t in the case.”
The department’s release did not include the names of the officers involved. Del Pozo said that the department would be talking to the officers’ lawyers once the investigation concludes in the next couple of days before deciding whether to publicly release their names.
Del Pozo said the department had to balance the officers’ right to privacy, since personnel matters are considered confidential, with the public interest in knowing about the allegations.
The department’s investigation started a few days after the incident in December, del Pozo said. After speaking with the city attorney and the state’s attorney, the department decided it had cause to put the officers on administrative duty approximately two weeks ago.
The officer’s discipline could range from a warning to suspension or termination, del Pozo said.
“If there’s an allegation about mishandling seized property, that’s serious, and in my mind serious discipline ranges from suspension to termination,” he said.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Burlington cops on desk duty after allegedly drinking confiscated beer.