policing

Virtual Community Forum on Proposed New Women's Correctional Facility 10/09/2024

From the Essex Community Justice Center:

Learn about the proposed women's correctional facility and re-entry center. Panelists include women's program providers in South Burlington correctional facility.

The Essex Community Justice Center serves as a neutral facilitator of these upcoming community events. The in-person forum is a chance for Essex community members to hear from the program providers who offer services inside the current women’s correctional facility. The virtual webinar is an opportunity to ask questions about the local impacts of the present facility, as well as the proposed re-entry center project. These events are being hosted separate from the Town of Essex Planning Commission meetings where zoning and siting decisions may be considered.

For more information visit: www.essexcjc.org

Community Forum on Proposed New Women's Correctional Facility 10/05/2024

From the Essex Community Justice Center:

Learn about the proposed women's correctional facility and re-entry center. Panelists include women's program providers in South Burlington correctional facility.

For more information visit: www.essexcjc.org

FreeHer VT No New Prison Noise Demonstration 08/12/2024

From FreeHer VT:

We are calling on community members to join us on Monday August 12 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM in Burlington for a noise demonstration calling on local architects to drop out of designing a new women's prison in Vermont!

In these times of suffering, the state should be extremely cautious about how they allocate community resources. Yet, there has been no indication of postponing or canceling the upcoming women’s prison project, which is currently estimated to cost over $70 million. In fact, the Department of Corrections plans to announce the site of the new women’s prison before the end of the summer! In response, FreeHer is preparing to take action so please stay tuned and be ready to plug in!

The first step we are taking is to urge the subcontractor, Freeman French Freeman, to drop the contract! FFF is the local architectural firm contracted to design the women's prison. They have been unresponsive to our communications and requests for meetings, so we are going to make some noise outside of their office in Burlington!

Join us to pressure Freeman French Freeman to DROP THE CONTRACT.

We will be protesting outside Freeman French Freeman on August 12th from 11am-1pm, the local architectural firm contracted to design the new prison, to urge them to withdraw from the project. We will have speakers, music, activities, and more. Please bring pots, pans, instruments, or any noise makers you'd like.

For more information visit: www.freehercampaign.org/vermont

Lake Champlain Chamber: South Burlington Police Department 01/03/2024

Host Austin Davis is joined by Chief Shawn Burke of the South Burlington Police Department.

For more information: lccvermont.org

FreeHer VT "From Incarceration to Education" Event 11/05/2023

From the organizers, FreeHer and the Education Justice Coalition:

Join FreeHer VT and the Education Justice Coalition for a march and panel event! Vermont Corrections general fund spending increased 335% between 1985 and 2017. By comparison, total general funding spending on education increased by just 57% over the same time period (Blueprint for Smart Justice VT). At this event we be march from the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility to a school to demonstrate our commitment to moving resources. Upon gathering we hear from FreeHer on their important campaign to stop the building of a new Women's Prison in Vermont.

For more information visit: www.freehercampaign.org/vermont

Stop Cop City Rally & Press Conference 03/09/2023

From the organizer:

FreeHer VT | Cooperation Vermont | Peoples Network for Land and Liberation | Food Not Cops | People’s Kitchen

In response to the National Call to Action from the Stop Cop City Coalition in Atlanta, GA, activists in Vermont rally and hold a press conference in solidarity, directed at Cox Enterprises to immediately divest from Cop City and cease their fundraising activities.

The City of Atlanta has leased 381 acres of Weelaunee Forest (the last substantial green space in the Atlanta area) to the Atlanta Police Foundation for a militarized police training facility funded by corporations. At the price of 90 million dollars, it includes a mock city to practice urban warfare, tear gas and explosives testing, dozens of shooting ranges, and a Black Hawk helicopter landing pad. Supported by the Atlanta Committee for Progress, which is composed of over 40 corporate elites including the CEOs of Coca-Cola, Home Depot and Cox, its aim is to further the surveillance of the population, stifling decent, and gentrification of the city.

Jim (Fergie) Cox Chambers, Jr. speaks out on March 9th in Burlington against his family company’s (Cox Enterprises) direct involvement in the private fundraising efforts for Cop City.

Cox Enterprises owns Dealer.Com in Burlington

https://www.stopcopcitysolidarity.org/

VICII: Independent Community Control Board of Burlington Police - Hell NO, Say Groups of Burlington Citizens 02/22/2023

From VICII:

On the Ballot this Town Meeting Day, on March 7th: create an independent Community Control Board to oversee the Burlington Police, with investigative and disciplinary authority. "Many Burlington leaders and residents are concerned that the Charter Change to create an Independent Community Control Board will undermine our efforts to rebuild the Police Department and hurt the community," says Jordan Redell, Mayor Miro Weinberger's Chief of Staff. The opponents to the Charter Change insist that, like the action to reduce the size of the Police Department by 30%, this initiative is a risky experiment with Burlington's public safety with little-to-no precedent or planning.

The Vermont Institute of Community and International Involvement (VICII) has sponsored a two-episode series of discussions. On February 15th, Councilor Gene Bergman presented the pro arguments in this ballot item. On February 22nd, Councilor Ben Traverse articulated the opposing views.

For more information: vicii.org

VICII: Control Of Police By Citizens - This is How Policing Burlington Could Soon Look 02/15/2023

From VICII:

People for Police Accountability is a grassroots movement currently campaigning to create an independent Community Control Board to oversee our local police, with both investigative and disciplinary authority. The change will be before voters this Town Meeting Day, on March 7th, 2023. People for Police Accountability advances the idea that police must be held accountable to the community they serve. "We are fighting for this change in Burlington, Vermont due to very well documented instances of police misconduct within the Burlington police department", says the pro-charter change group.

To help inform your vote on this crucial and divisive issue, The Vermont Institute of Community and International Involvement (VICII) will sponsor a two-episode series of discussions.

On the 15th of February, Councilor Gene Bergman presents the pro argument in this ballot item.
On the 22nd of February, Councilor Ben Traverse articulates the opposing views.

For more information: vicii.org

FreeHer VT Town Hall 02/06/2023

From the organizers:

Join FreeHer Vermont organizers and neighbors to learn how they're organizing to stop the construction of a new prison in Vermont, and how they plan to end the incarceration of women and girls in Vermont. They share about current campaigns and how Vermonters can get involved!

For more information visit: www.nationalcouncil.us

Fund Services, Not Police and Prisons! 01/24/2023

From the organizer:

We are in the midst of multiple crises in our city, state, and country. The answer from both corporate parties seems to be more policing and more prisons instead of funding social services, education, jobs, and programs to overcome racial injustice.

Here in Burlington, Mayor Weinberger clamors to hire more police. And the state government is in the process of building 4 new prisons at the cost of $230 million. Such measures only enforce racial and class inequalities not redress them.

Come hear local activists speak out against this expansion of the carceral state, and lay out concrete alternatives for funding services - not police and prisons!

Speakers:
Jayna Asaf, Free Her Vermont
Jessica Laporte, People for Police Accountability
Paul Fleckenstein, Tempest Collective
Katie Harris, AFSCME 1674

Sponsored by: Tempest Collective, Free Her Vermont, & People for Police Accountability, AFSCME 1674.

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Applications Now Open for the Spring 2025 Cohort of the Neighborhood Community Media Internship Program

Town Meeting TV is excited to announce that applications are now open for the Spring 2025 cohort of the Neighborhood Community Media Internship program. Join up to 8 other youth to engage in interesting media making projects! This paid media internship opportunity is designed for youth aged 16-20 who are eager to gain professional experience in the audio-visual field and develop a deeper understanding of their local community. The group will meet under the leadership of Town Meeting TV's Travis Washington from the end of January 2025 to the beginning of June 2025, on a schedule agreed upon by the whole cohort. Click here to apply!