The Burlington Police Officers’ Association is calling on the city to better secure the police station after a sergeant was attacked by a knife-wielding suspect in the employee lobby this week.
The union wants a fence to be erected around the employee parking lot — a request officers say they’ve made in previous years but that has gone unheeded.
Joe Magee, deputy chief of staff for Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, told Seven Days on Thursday that the administration will discuss the request with the union and police leaders.
The sergeant, who was off-duty and unarmed, wasn’t injured. In a statement posted online Wednesday, the union called the unprotected entrance an “urgent safety deficiency.”
“The BPOA is deeply concerned about this matter, which underpins the daily dangers and sacrifices our members make to protect this City,” the statement said. “No one, including police officers, should be fearful of assault, injury and potentially death merely coming and going from their place of employment.”
The sergeant, whose identity was not disclosed, was reporting for duty just after 5:30 a.m. on January 14 when he entered the building and encountered a man later identified as 34-year-old Eric Jones of Burlington, police said. Jones, who showed no emotion, raised a meat cleaver above his head, police said.
A struggle ensued, and the officer wrested the weapon from Jones’ hands. Jones then attempted to stab the officer with a kitchen knife, which the officer grabbed and threw outside along with the cleaver before escaping himself, trapping Jones in the lobby. On-duty officers responded and took Jones into custody, police said.
“We are deeply grateful that our officer was not seriously injured or killed by this individual who clearly had the ability to do so,” the union’s statement said. Civilian staff also use the entrance.
A similar incident happened in November 2023, when a plainclothes officer “faced an assaultive individual” in the parking lot after a shift, the union said.
The officers’ concerns come amid ongoing discussions about the future of the station at 1 North Avenue, which, after three decades of use, is showing its age. The city, however, has limited money to renovate the station or build a new one.
A lack of funds, along with property boundary issues, have stymied previous efforts to build a fence around the employee parking lot, Chief Jon Murad said in an email. There are also optics to consider.
“To some, fences can appear divisive and unwelcoming which is obviously not the intent,” the union wrote in a follow-up statement to Seven Days. “We feel securing the employee entrance is necessary for the clear, ongoing safety concerns not to mention simply to prevent property destruction, for example previous vandalism to cruisers.”
Other departments, including South Burlington and Essex, have secure parking lots, the union added.
Meantime, crews were out Wednesday installing additional locks on the entrance door, Murad said. The department is also considering installing privacy glass.
In an email Wednesday, which Murad shared with Seven Days, the chief sought to comfort his troops.
“The idea of being so vulnerable in the place where we’re all supposed to be safe is unacceptable,” he wrote. “People care that this has happened, and they care about all of you and the work you do. I am hopeful that we will be able to make additional changes on top of those we’ve already undertaken.”