Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo admitted Thursday to creating an anonymous Twitter account to troll a critic. He also conceded that he’d lied to a Seven Days reporter who asked him about the account in July. In a written statement Friday, Mayor Miro Weinberger described his chief as not having “been forthright with a reporter about those tweets.”
“It’s 45 minutes of my life spent anonymously tweeting someone in a snarky way that does not befit the chief of police,” del Pozo said at an impromptu press conference Friday, “and then, to be candid, denying it out of embarrassment to a reporter, which I think is the more serious problem.”
Del Pozo went on to say he felt his “throat choking up” during the July 23 phone call with this reporter.
A review of the audio recording of the 36-minute interview showed that the chief lied nearly a dozen times about what he’d done.
Listen to the audio of the first six and a half minutes of the interview here:
At the beginning of the call, as this reporter began to describe the accusation that he’d created the account, del Pozo interrupted and said, “No.”
“So you did not do that?” this reporter asked.
“Nope,” del Pozo said.
He went on to say, “I haven’t created any fake Twitter accounts either, or Facebook accounts, at all.”
At Friday’s press conference, del Pozo attributed his behavior to a temporary lapse in judgment owing to a combination of stress and ongoing complications from the traumatic brain injury he suffered after a bicycling accident in 2018.
“You can make decisions that you do not normally make under those circumstances,” del Pozo said. “Being the chief of police and being responsible for the welfare of an entire city and for a police department can be very, very stressful.”
Del Pozo said he created the account on July 4 to troll Charles Winkleman, an outspoken activist who regularly criticizes del Pozo and others on Twitter. The profile, WinkleWatchers, was active for about an hour before del Pozo deleted it, he said.
While Weinberger called del Pozo’s actions “unacceptable, inappropriate, and not consistent with what I expect from the Chief of Police,” the mayor also lauded the chief for coming clean about what he’d done. But del Pozo waited more than three weeks to tell Weinberger about his actions and only did so after Seven Days questioned him.
“I didn’t know where my head was. This was out of character,” del Pozo recalled telling the mayor. “I know that I have these back and forths on the internet … but I don’t know why I did this thing.”
He subsequently took a six-week medical leave, returning in September.
City councilors, police commissioners and the police union leader all said they did not know about the account until shortly before Seven Days’ story was published Thursday night.
“The membership is understandably angry … about what was revealed yesterday,” Cpl. Tyler Badeau, the president of the police union, said Friday. He expected the union would issue a formal statement next week.
Councilor Max Tracy (P-Ward 2) said del Pozo should resign.
“He’s lost the trust of the public,” Tracy said. “This will follow him wherever he goes.”
The city council is scheduled to meet on Monday evening, but the chief is not on the agenda. City Council President Kurt Wright (R-Ward 4) said he’s invited del Pozo to appear on his radio show, “The Morning Drive,” on Monday. “If he is going to weather this storm, he’s going to have to be completely open and candid,” Wright said.
“The chief made two critical, really big mistakes that are indefensible, that he has owned up to and apologized for,” said Wright. “But at the same time, he’s a human being like I am, and we’ve all made mistakes. I think it’s important that we not throw someone under the bus despite the severity of the mistake.”
Other councilors reached by Seven Days on Friday had mixed reactions. Councilor Brian Pine (P-Ward 3) called for a restorative justice process in which del Pozo and Winkleman would meet and collaboratively address the issue. Councilor Jack Hanson (P-East District) said he was “disturbed and distraught” by del Pozo’s actions and called for “a process of accountability.”
Councilor Perri Freeman (P-Central District), who was one of two councilors who voted not to reappoint del Pozo in June, said she wants to hear from the public on how to respond.
Councilor Franklin Paulino (D-North District) said he’d already decided that del Pozo shouldn’t resign or be fired because the incident was an aberration.
“As long as it’s not part of a bigger problem … I stand behind our chief,” Paulino said, adding, “He obviously made a mistake, and it sounds like he’s paying the price for it.”
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People have been sharing stories regarding how del Pozo has personally harassed them on social media in the past (using his own, and the official department’s, accounts). This was happening long BEFORE any presumed medical condition. I hope you dig into this more, Courtney. The public needs the whole story, and both del Pozo and the mayor must be held accountable.
There’s really an easy resolution to this problem. Del Pozo should resign, citing medical reasons. The fact that he continued as Chief after his TBI diagnosis in 2018 is an example of the poor judgment he has shown.
The fact that our mayor is more concerned about his chief of police’s lying than his trolling of a Burlington citizen is particularly disturbing. The chief brought opprobrium and disrepute on a critic who raised valid complaints about BPD, and this doesn’t bother Miro? But then Miro doesn’t take criticism too well either.
And now the story makes national AP News – https://apnews.com/95e4cc24311eabad66df0cb…
Is this the line for pitchforks and torches? If so I will take one of each.
The councilors aren’t addressing the underlying problem. The chief’s trolling is a symptom. Lying and the chief and the mayor’s five month cover up of lies is the disease. The current administration has infected city government with the culture that all is fair when protecting the mayor or doing his bidding. If deception and lying are necessary, so be it. The seriuos signs of this illness have been ignored for a long time. Now we’re sick and it is really bad This city doesn’t have the sniffles, we have pneumonia.
The buck needs to stop with the Mayor. As long as this is seen as a minor infraction, our discussion will not be taken seriously. I just wrote in the previous comment section about the urgent need for our administration to take it very seriously that a leader in the City, in this case our highest official in the police force, has not only used social media to intimidate a citizen but he has lied about it. I do not believe this can be looked at from the point of view of just mental health. There must be a higher level response. Our Mayor has sought to avoid having this issue raised in public at all. This is very troublesome. Yesterday, the Free Press waited diligently for him to respond to these issues. He chose not to appear to meet with our reporter and he sought to use medical leave policy as a reason not to deal with this issue in July. There must be a much more concerted response to the issue of the misuse of social media by a leading official in our government.
If Miro supposedly ordered him to stay off any social media then what’s he doing on twitter now?? I think Miro told another big fat lie!!
Hard to believe that someone would lie to a news reporter.
Whatever happened to compassion and forgiveness? I feel Del Pozo deserves both.
It may be time to thank Chief Del Pozo for his service and send him packing. He can join Yaw Obeng and hopefully Miro and take a long trip somewhere, where they can sip cocktails beside a pool in a swanky hotel and wonder how it all went so wrong.
It is a shame that Del Pozo has TBI, but it seems to be interfering in his capacity as Chief. A job with this much high stress and responsibility may not be in his future any longer.