Burlington hires private security to patrol City Hall Park
BURLINGTON, VT Aug 25 2021 If you’re in Burlington and checking out the recently renovated City Hall Park, you will notice the presence of private security services.
The renovation of City Hall Park was completed last year to allow more people to enjoy one of Burlington’s most centrally located green spaces. But the park continues to be a magnet for some bad behavior. And with the police force stretched thin, the mayor appropriated $110,000 to pay for private security in the park.
A company called Chocolate Thunder has been keeping an eye on things for the past few weeks.
“We have been asked to look over some of the behaviors in City Hall Park,” said Michael van Gulden the founder and CEO of Chocolate Thunder.
Chocolate Thunder has been around for 11 years and does private security for bars and now has people regularly patrolling City Hall Park.
Van Gulden says they deal with all kinds of issues in the park, including everything from people who are verbally and physically abusive to open consumption of alcohol.
However, he says the Chocolate Thunder workers are there to treat people with respect, no matter what they are going through.
“The important thing to remember is these individuals are a very valued part of the community because they are still the human beings that make the community what it is,” van Gulden said.
The security teams do not have policing authority, but they say they are usually successful in curbing bad behavior by talking to the offenders. But they can also call-in police or counselors from the Howard Center if they need help.
Van Gulden says they are just there to allow everyone to enjoy the park.
“Even if it’s a matter of us watching over a field trip of students going from the library to the park or engaging with individuals that may not have another place to be, that literally don’t have another place to be,” he said.
Mayor Miro Weinberger continues to say that he wishes the police were at a higher staffing level to help with some issues that could occur in the park, but that he believes Chocolate Thunder is helping.
“It’s good to have some people working in the park that are not just the police and this might be an area that once this new CSO community service officer program gets up and running and we have more people working in those roles, that might replace some of the need for people working with Chocolate Thunder,” said Weinberger, D-Burlington.
The city plans to keep Chocolate Thunder in the park until at least the middle of September and then will decide whether they will be needed next spring.
“I think having them here has helped us keep this a space that is open and accessible and usable by everyone,” Weinberger said.
Despite the wide range of struggles that some people in the park are dealing with on a daily basis, Weinberger says they’ve hired one of the three community service liaison positions in the city to further allow people the access they need to help.
Van Gulden says the way Chocolate Thunder deals with some people who might be struggling is to be human and be genuinely kind while trying to curb some of these behaviors.
WCAX
