Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak on Wednesday issued an executive order requiring that the Burlington Police Department send its news releases to her office for approval before being shared with the public.
The order wrests full autonomy of the release of public information away from the department and from outgoing police Chief Jon Murad.
The order will remain in effect “until further notice” but “may be rescinded” upon the review and approval of a new press release policy within the department, according to the order.
“Our press releases related to public safety need to include core facts that are needed for the public’s benefit and nothing more,” Mulvaney-Stanak said in a phone call.
Murad, in a phone call, said: “It’s a lawful executive order, and the Burlington Police Department will follow it.”
He declined to comment any further.
The Progressive mayor’s decision follows recent statements made in a police news release regarding Mike Reynolds, a Burlington man with a years-long record of felony convictions, charges and nuisance calls.
Reynolds has more police encounters than anyone else in the department’s records management system, with more than 1,850 entries, police said in a Dec. 30 news release. He’s had 170 no-trespass notices filed against him by city property owners.
Murad, in the Dec. 30 news release, pointed to Reynolds’ long criminal history and urged a harsher punishment, writing that Reynolds “has harmed huge numbers of people; he routinely endangers himself and others; and Burlington’s officers deal with him more than any other person.”
He further urged state prosecutors to utilize legislation that would allow them to seek enhanced penalties against offenders who commit a felony after having been convicted of three previously.
Murad’s statement prompted Reynolds’ attorney, Joshua O’Hara, to request a gag order against Murad and other police officers from making public statements about Reynolds, according to reporting from Seven Days.
O’Hara, according to Seven Days, said in court documents that Murad’s statements “threatened to undermine Michael Reynolds’ right to a fair trial.”
Murad’s statements and the news release have since made the rounds in local media. Reynolds’ case was featured on the WBUR Boston program “On Point,” which questioned whether mandating mental health care could help those in need of treatment.