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BUT A POLICE LEADER I ALSO SAT DOWN WITH -- SAYS IT'LL NEVER WORK HERE. <RALPH GRENON GUN SHOTS> IN SPRING OF 2016 -- BURLINGTON POLICE SHOOT AND KILL RALPH GRENON MAN AFTER AN HOURS- LONG STANDOFF IN HIS COLLEGE STREET APARTMENT. WHILE INSTANCES LIKE THIS ONE ARE RARE IN OUR AREA -- ONE CITY COUNCILOR IS ASKING A BIG QUESTION. <PERRI FREEMAN -- HOW MUCH IS THE LETHAL FORCE -- AT THE END OF THE DAY -- IS IT CAUSING MORE HARM THAN BENEFIT?> PERRI FREEMAN IS ONE OF THE NEWEST FACES ON BURLINGTON'S CITY COUNCIL. DURING A COUNCIL MEETING -- SHE BROUGHT UP THE IDEA: WHAT IF WE DISARMED POLICE IN BURLINGTON? <PERRI FREEMAN - THINKING ABOUT HOW NEW WAYS OF DOING POLICING IN THE U-S > SHE POINTS TO ICELAND. A COUNTRY WITH A SIMILAR POPULATION SIZE AND GUN OWNERSHIP RATES. OFFICERS THERE DON'T USUALLY CARRY GUNS. FREEMAN SAYS -- WHEN OFFICERS áDO CARRY GUNS -- <PERRI FREEMAN -- IT ACTUALLY ESCALATES THE VIOLENCE IN OUR COMMUNITIES. IT DOESN'T ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO BE LESS VIOLENT> HIGHLIGHTING THE RECENT MASS SHOOTINGS IN DAYTON AND EL PASO -- SHE ADMITS THAT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN POLICE áDO NEED WEAPONS. <FREEMAN -- BUT THE DAY IN AND DAY OUT OF POLICE WORK IS NOT ENGAGING WITH THAT> <DANIEL GILLIGAN -- BPD OFFICERS ASSOCIATION -- VERY VERY FEW PLACES IN THE ENTIRE WORLD TAKE THAT APPROACH> DANIEL GILLIGAN HEADS BURLINGTON'S POLICE OFFICERS UNION. HE SAYS DISARMING COPS WOULDN'T FIT. INSTANCES LIKE THIS BURLINGTON ARMED STANDOFF IN 2013 MIGHT BE UNCOMMON -- BUT HAVING A FIREARM WHEN IT COUNTS IS KEY. <GILLIGAN -- TO SHOW UP TO AN ARMED SITUATION UNARMED -- I CANT THINK OF ANYTHING MORE DISADVANTAGED THAN THAT> <FREEMAN -- IT'S NOT AN OVERNIGHT THING -- IT'S A GRADUAL PROGRAM -- IT'S TALKING ABOUT HOW DO WE REALLY SHIFT AND TALK ABOUT DOING THINGS IN A DIFFERENT WAY THAT MIGHT ACTUALLY WORK BETTER IN THE LONG RUN> FREEMAN SAYS SHE HOPES THAT OFFICERS DON'T TAKE THIS AS A PERSONAL ATTACK ON THEM OR THE WORK THEY DO. SHE MAINTAINS SHE WANTS TO KEEP COMMUNITIES SAFE. AND THERE'S BEEN NOTHING FORMALLY SUBMITTED TO THE CITY COUNCIL. SHE SAYS SHE'S MERELY TRYING

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A Burlington City Councilor is mulling over whether police officers in the Queen City should be disarmed."How much is the lethal force -- is it really causing at the end of the day, more harm than benefit?," said Perri Freeman, a progressive representing the Central District.She brought up the idea at a recent council meeting, saying communities should be thinking about new ways of policing in the United States. Freeman spent time in Iceland, where police are often unarmed, according to an article in The Washington Post.Freeman argues there are times when police do need weapons, citing the recent mass shootings in Dayton and El Paso, but added that "the day in and day out of police work is not engaging with that."She hopes to change the culture of policing, calling current practices a reaction to systemic problems like inequality.Nothing concrete has come out of the councilor's conversations with other local politicians or police leaders, but she's hoping to gauge how members of the Burlington community would feel about such a plan.The head of Burlington's police officers union said such a plan "wouldn't fit" in any American city."There are a lot of guns around, and we as the police try to put ourselves in the position of advantage all the time, and to show up to an armed incident unarmed? I can't think of anything more disadvantaged than that," said Dan Gilligan, president of the Burlington Police Officer's Association.Freeman said this is not meant to slight the work of police officers. Rather, her goal is to keep everyone safe. "It's not an overnight thing. It's a gradual program. It's talking about how to we really shift and talk about doing things maybe differently in a way that might be better in the long run," she said.