If you’re drunk and belligerent on Church Street, it could be a while before you’re allowed to return.
That’s the goal of a proposed ordinance, which comes up for a vote tonight by the Burlington City Council. If approved, the new rule, sponsored by city councilors Vince Dober (R-Ward 7), Sharon Bushor (I-Ward 1) and Chip Mason (D-Ward 5), would give police the authority to issue no-trespass warnings and citations for “anti-social behavior…[that] enhances a sense of fear, intimidation, and disorder within the Church Street Marketplace District.”
Under current law, police can issue a no-trespass order on Church Street only if the offensive or illegal behavior occurs indoors or on private property, such as a restaurant, bar, store or in the mall.
Burlington Police Chief Mike Schirling describes the ordinance, which has been talked about downtown for years, as a creative tool for preventing “repetitive and poor behavior.” In most cases, it wouldn’t require police to arrest offenders, then dump them into the court system. Instead, he says, the new rule would act as a deterrent to those who want to be downtown. Police would have the discretion to issue a no-trespass order for as little as one day, or for as much as one year.
The new ordinance is modeled on those already in place in City Hall Park and Fletcher Free Library. Schirling notes that in City Hall Park, where the ordinance took effect just 18 months ago, police have already seen a “notable decrease” in their call volumes.
“What we found is what we had hoped,” Schirling says. “In City Hall Park there have been very few arrests or the need for very few trespass warnings issued. The very fact that [the ordinance] exists is enough to change behavior.”
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Sorry – completely disagree with this. Beyond a few retail markets there are many offices, including psychiatrists, dentists and doctors in and around the Church Street Marketplace. If a store, bar or other business feels they need a ‘no trespass’ order against an individual – they already have that legal option available.
I see nothing in the ordinance that exempts political speech from being cited as “anti-social behavior”. In an era where the Supreme Courts believe that “Corporations are people” and can spend unlimited funds funds on political speech real people can’t afford to lose any venue where they can get publicity without spending megabucks. Nothing in the ordinance prevents the Burlington Cops from reaching into events such as the Occupy parade a year & 1/2 ago. All they would have had to do was cite a few key leaders with trespassing or perhaps cite all parade participants and ban them for two days. I predict a lot of expensive litigation in the future.