Burlington sees 10th gun fire incident of the year

[janterry]

For the second time in a week, Burlington Police responded to the area near Simon’s Store and City Market. Police received multiple reports of a fight and gunshots in the street. According to Burlington Police, the fight was among ten to twelve people during which shots were fired.

Police say from 2012 to 2019 the annual average of gun fire incidents was 2. That number rose to a dozen in 2020.

To this point, the City of Burlington has had 10 gunfire incidents in 2021 alone.

https://www.wcax.com/2021/08/08/burlington-sees-10th-gun-fire-incident-year/

[empedocles]

1. Seems so unlikely to the Burlington, Vt, that I've been to many times over the years.

[janterry]

2. I'm south of burlington

I've followed what is happening, but I'm unclear why this is erupting (erupt for burlington). We (the state) has a pretty big drug problem, of course.

Such a pretty city.....

[empedocles]

3. Is there a significant crime problem/culture/violence, in Burlington [apart from drug use?]

[janterry]

4. the college is up there

but, tbh - I think most of the problems are drug related (which might involve the college to some extent, but mostly it's folks who are really struggling in the community. I know where I'm at - it's mostly property crimes (from folks who have substance abuse issues).

More generally, the state has problems with housing (lots of jobs, but very high cost of housing -esp. Burlington - but it's a statewide issue). This puts pressure on everyone (those in the middle class are really squeezed). The state has $$ from tourists and people who own second homes. We don't have a lot of housing (middle class) apartments. The housing we do have tends to be old homes (our housing stock is old) that are converted into apartments. But it's not enough to meet the needs. And landlords are raising rents (some flat out selling up for a profit).

Here's a very recent article on this: https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/nowhere-to-go-vermonts-exploding-housing-crisis-hits-moderate-wage-earners/Content?oid=33532880&fbclid=IwAR2fSkEKWTzap8SmVih5CorhW4sKrakX-MUX9ZRbWyjxSAt1it0sWq4KaCs


The police in Burlington have been short staffed and that is well known (as in, we don't have enough people to work a specific shift). That signals the wrong thing, obv.

We do have a large immigrant community just north of burlington, but as a state we welcome immigrants from other countries (and I've not heard of specific problems related to that). I think housing, drugs, and policing problems all play into this (from what I can tell)

[empedocles]

5. Thanks