Burlington Police Commission didn't know about fake Twitter account behind del Pozo's leave

Ryan Mercer , Elizabeth Murray | Burlington Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption WATCH: Every minute of del Pozo resignation news conference at Burlington Police Department Watch every minute of Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger's announcement of police chief's resignation on Monday, DEc. 16, 2019.

The chairwoman of the civilian board with oversight responsibilities for the Burlington Police Department said she did not know the specific reasons why Chief Brandon del Pozo was placed on paid leave over the summer, nor that the chief had created an anonymous Twitter account to attack a city resident critical of the department.

“We didn’t know,” said Burlington Police Commission Chairwoman Michele Asch. “We found out not long before it was made public.”

The chief has admitted publicly that he spent six weeks of paid family and medical leave seeking mental health treatment after creating the fake Twitter account.

Del Pozo told weekly paper Seven Days this week that he had created a Twitter account called @WinkleWatchers in July to anonymously poke fun at Charles Winkleman, a political activist.

The chief told Mayor Miro Weinberger of the fake account and his actions before being placed on leave in July. But for months, few knew outside of the the mayor's office, not even the Burlington Police Commission.

The Twitter account has since been deleted. Del Pozo had initially denied he was responsible when a Seven Days reporter asked about it in July.

Asch said because the leave was a personnel issue, and because del Pozo ultimately reports to the mayor, the commission wouldn’t necessarily have been informed.

Del Pozo: 'I was wrong'

“What I did was wrong and I regret it.” del Pozo said of the anonymous Twitter account and his trolling of Winkleman. “It’s something that private citizens do quite often, but it’s not appropriate for a public official.”

During a phone interview Friday afternoon, del Pozo said that he didn’t want to admit to himself or anyone else how the injuries he sustained in a bicycle accident in June 2018 continued to affect him.

“My skull was fractured in three places, two different brain bleeds,” he said of the 2018 crash while mountain biking in the Adirondacks. “I went back to work right away, but [the head injuries] take a long time to heal.”

Despite his outward stance against mental health stigma, he said that the same stigma — especially among police officers — is very much alive and well and that it contributed to him ignoring signs that he needed help.

It’s that same stigma that kept him from publicly disclosing what he had done in July, he says, when he told Mayor Weinberger about the anonymous account. He was embarrassed about what he had done, but also embarrassed that he hadn’t noticed what was going on in his own mind.

Combined with a lot of stress, del Pozo said his head injuries led him to make impulsive decisions that he never thought he’d make.

“The thought of what happened then is out of character,” he said of his actions. “It’s something I’ve never done before or since… it made no sense and was clearly not the right thing to do.”

Del Pozo said that, once he was able to take a step back, realize what was happening and get the appropriate treatment, the symptoms went away and he was declared fit for duty.

But the first step was admitting what he had done, he said.

“I would value the opportunity to apologize to Mr. Winkleman, to explain that I was wrong,” he said. “ But I don’t want to do it in a way that just seems opportunistic. It should be when he is ready and on his terms. I owe him that.”

Surprised and disappointed

"I'm surprised, disappointed that the mayor knew," Winkleman said over the phone with the Free Press Friday morning.

He said that, for months, the stress cause by del Pozo's attacks on Twitter and the damage that has caused him since could have been avoided.

Winkleman said he had not been contacted by del Pozo or anyone from the mayor's office since the Seven Days story was published Thursday night.

The Free Press requested in interview with Weinberger at 8:30 a.m. Friday, and a reporter spent the day in the mayor's office at City Hall waiting to speak to him. At 3:37 p.m. Friday, a spokeswoman for the mayor sent an email saying that he would not grant that request.

The Mayor was not seen at his office all day.

In an email sent at 4:37 p.m., Mayor Weinberger said he was giving del Pozo a second chance, based on the fact that the chief self-reported, realized that what he did was wrong, and that medical professionals linked his behavior to a mental health condition.

The mayor also said, "The Chief’s overall service to date had been otherwise excellent."

Winkleman said Weinberger’s administration has been anything but transparent, redacting pages of information when he requested public records.

“I was surprised that the chief admitted it,” said Winkleman, who for the past several months has been fighting to get information and evidence to prove that del Pozo targeted him. “I’m surprised it happened at all."

Winkleman made a complaint in May about del Pozo, as well as Deputy Chief Jon Murad and Deputy Chief Jan Wright which he wanted brought before the Police Commission.

He said the commission never received that complaint and that both Weinberger and the Burlington City Council have been protecting the chief and the police department leadership from scrutiny.

“Where’s the responsibility, the accountability, the oversight?” He said. “There isn’t any.”

Winkleman is also disturbed by the reason given for del Pozo’s actions.

“That they are using mental health is entirely BS,” he said. “Not only did the chief lie, the mayor covered it up. The idea that mental health is the issue here is just incredibly disingenuous."

Winkleman claims that, for years, del Pozo has demonstrated a pattern of aggressively going after critics. He brought up an exchange during a Burlington Police Commission meeting in January as one example, when del Pozo argued with Burlington resident Michael Fife about a social media policy for the police department.

“I think the chief and the deputies should step down,” he said.

Del Pozo told Weinberger

Del Pozo created the account while off duty from his personal phone, Seven Days reported.

Later that month, the chief went to Mayor Miro Weinberger's home to admit his wrongdoing. He was then placed on paid administrative leave.

Weinberger told Seven Days that a subsequent investigation found that del Pozo's behavior was due to an underlying medical condition. The city has not said publicly what that condition may have been.

More: Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo back to duty after leave of absence

Del Pozo returned to duty in September, but the reasons for his leave were not disclosed publicly until the interview with Seven Days.

Weinberger reprimanded del Pozo

Each time the Burlington Free Press asked the mayor's office or the police department about the reasons for del Pozo's leave of absence, the Free Press was told that information regarding family and medical leave was protected by employee privacy rules and that the city would not comment.

Weinberger verbally reprimanded the Chief when he returned to duty, Seven Days reported.

This week, Winkleman wrote a blog post detailing why he thought del Pozo was the source of the anonymous Twitter account.

On Friday, he wrote on Twitter, "The issue isn’t mental health — it’s ego, narcissism, and a mayor, council, and police commission wholly unwilling to hold any of their own responsible for hurtful and abusive behavior. #vtpoli"

The issue isn’t mental health - it’s ego, narcissism, and a mayor, council, and police commission wholly unwilling to hold any of their own responsible for hurtful and abusive behavior. #vtpoli https://t.co/01vcmddt8H — Left Wing PC Mania (@HippiesPlowVT) December 13, 2019

On Thursday night, less than an hour after Seven Days published their story, Burlington Police Deputy Chief Jan Wright sent an email to staff obtained by the Free Press.

"...the Chief created an anonymous Twitter account and, over the course of an hour on July 4th, sent approximately ten tweets to a critic of the City. He then deleted the account, realizing it was wrong," the email stated.

Response from Police Commission Chairwoman

Asch disputes allegations from Winkleman that his May complaint was somehow hidden from the commission.

Commissioners have access to all reports, but generally only reviews ones that the department deems more serious, said Asch, who has since seen Winkleman’s complaint and does not believe that it rose to that level.

“From my estimation, nothing was held from us intentionally,” Asch said.

When asked about Winkleman’s blog post that suggested del Pozo also made an anonymous complain to his boss at the Howard Center in an attempt to get him fired, Asch said, “I do not believe that is true.”

Asch said that she as well as other commissioners noticed a shift in his behavior leading up to his leave of absence in July — that he was more irritable, more reactionary.

But since returning from a leave of absence and receiving medical treatment, according to the Burlington police email, she said he’s “back to the old Chief.”

“He has a tremendous amount of regret and remorse,” said Asch, who has met with del Pozo, adding that she has measured a lot of things in response to what happened. The fact that he self-reported his actions to the mayor, in effect owning what he did, speaks volumes about his character, she said.

“When I look at all of that, from my perspective, I think we can move forward.”

The commission is attempting to schedule a special meeting sometime next week, Asch said, to address to public’s concerns instead of waiting until late January for the next regular meeting.

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Contact Elizabeth Murray at 802-651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizMurrayBFP. Contact Ryan Mercer at rmercer@freepressmedia.com or at 802-343-4169. Follow him on Twitter @ryanmercer1 and facebook.com/ryan.mercer1.