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Brandon del Pozo

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Brandon del Pozo
Chief of Police, Burlington, Vermont
In office
September 1, 2015 – December 16, 2019
Personal details
Born1974 (age 49–50)
SpouseSarah Carnevale (m. 2002)
Alma materDartmouth College (AB, 1996), Harvard University (MPA, 2004), John Jay College, CUNY (MA, 2007), The Graduate Center, CUNY (MPhil, 2012 & PhD, 2020)
Websitewww.brandondelpozo.com www.policeandthestate.com

Brandon del Pozo (born 1974) is an assistant professor of Medicine and Health Services, Policy, and Practice (Research) at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and a research scientist at Brown University Health.[1] He is also a faculty member of the Master of Science Program in Addiction Policy and Practice at the Georgetown University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.[2]

Prior to research, del Pozo was the chief of police of Burlington, Vermont for four years,[3] and served with the New York City Police Department from 1997 to 2015.

Del Pozo is an elected member of the national Council on Criminal Justice,[4] a Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science (LEADS) Academic at the National Institute of Justice,[5] and was a 2022-2023 LEAP Investigator at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.[6] He has received recognition for his leadership from the Police Executive Research Forum.[7]

Early life and education

[edit]

Born in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of the New York borough of Brooklyn to a Cuban father and Jewish mother,[8] del Pozo graduated from Stuyvesant High School[9] in New York.

Del Pozo completed a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College,[10] a master's degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice from John Jay College.[11][12] At the Kennedy School, he was its inaugural 9/11 Public Service Fellow.[11][13]

He holds a PhD in Philosophy from The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York,[14] after which he trained in medicine and public health as a NIDA-funded postdoctoral researcher at The Miriam Hospital and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, where he received a faculty appointment.[1]

Research career

[edit]

Del Pozo has been funded by the National Institutes of Health to investigate how public systems, policies, and law affect the health and safety of individuals and communities.[15] He also conducts research on the normative commitments of government, especially police.

Some of his research that has gained mainstream attention compares the risks of violence faced by military-aged males in select U.S. cities with the wartime risks of injury and death faced by soldiers deployed to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan,[16][17] finds that police opioid seizures are spatiotemporally associated with increased overdose rates in their aftermath,[18] concludes that crime and disorder did not increase in the areas where New York City opened the nation's first government-sanctioned safe injection sites,[19] provides evidence that fentanyl accounts is the prime driver of the US overdose crisis more so than changes in drug enforcement,[20] and assesses efforts to dispel misinformation that police officers can quickly overdose and die from touching the synthetic opioid fentanyl.[21][22]

His normative work has centered on the need to balance criminal justice and drug policy reforms with the public safety goals of reducing crime and maintaining order,[23] noting that public support for reforms in affected communities has hinged on delivering public safety in tandem with public health initiatives.[24] In 2022, Cambridge University Press published del Pozo's book The Police and the State: Security, Social Cooperation, and the Public Good.[25][26] It offers an account of the role of police in a pluralist democracy, attempting to reconcile the work of Hegel, John Rawls, Elizabeth Anderson, and Charles Mills, who sat on his dissertation committee.

Police career

[edit]

Del Pozo started his career in the New York Police Department (NYPD) as a patrol officer in East Flatbush, Brooklyn in 1997 and attained the rank of deputy inspector, commanding the 6th and 50th Precincts in Manhattan and the Bronx,[27][8] and serving overseas as an intelligence officer for the Arab world and India, based in Amman, Jordan.[27] In 2015, del Pozo was nominated to be the chief of police of Burlington, Vermont.[28] His appointment was contested by activists due to his prior work with the NYPD,[29] but his nomination was approved by the Burlington City Council.[30]

Opioid addiction and overdose reduction

[edit]

The mayor of Burlington directed del Pozo to create a strategy[31] for addressing the opioid crisis, using a public health approach.[32] He directed patrol officers to carry Naloxone,[33] created of the city's Opioid Policy Coordinator position, and staffed the police department with an epidemiologist and biostatistician.[34] The positions vetted police work for public health outcomes and assisted the city in formulating policies and programs to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with opioid use.[35]

Del Pozo's strategies also reflected the need for people with opioid addiction to have access to the medications proven to treat it,[36][37] including prisoners,[38] and he set a policy where his department would not arrest people for unprescribed possession of buprenorphine.[39][40] In 2020, the city of Philadelphia took the same position toward buprenorphine, citing Burlington's approach.[41] Under his strategy, the city coordinated efforts to link people to buprenorphine treatment at the local syringe service program and hospital emergency department,[42] and assisted in efforts to eliminate waiting lists for access to treatment.[43]

In 2018, the rest of Vermont saw a 20% increase in opioid overdose deaths, while Burlington's county saw a 50% decline, to the lowest levels since the state began keeping records.[44] The reduction was sustained through the end of 2019.[45]

De-escalation

[edit]

In the winter of 2016, after a Burlington police officer killed Phil Grenon, a man who attacked the police with knives after a standoff,[46] del Pozo piloted the Police Executive Research Forum's (PERF) use of force guidelines and de-escalation curriculum.[47][48][49] The Reveal, a production of American Public Media, aired a segment about the incident: "When Tasers Fail."[50]

In 2018, del Pozo gave the highest award in the department to an officer who was in the path of a robbery suspect fleeing in a vehicle and would have been justified in opening fire on the vehicle, but chose not to,[51] saying that restraint was a valuable quality in a police officer.[52] He also investigated the Vermont State Police Academy for allegations that officers were being struck unexpectedly in the head during training, causing a pattern of concussions.[53] The academy settled a suit with an injured student and ceased delivering unexpected blows to the heads of its recruits.[54]

Overseas intelligence

[edit]

After the 9/11 terror attacks, the NYPD selected del Pozo to create its first intelligence post with the Arab world, based out of Amman, Jordan in 2005.[55] Embedded with the Jordanian National Police, he responded to suicide bombings at Jordanian hotels executed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and an attack on a Roman amphitheater.[56] He also responded to two attacks in Mumbai, India: a 2006 bombing of seven trains on the city's commuter rail,[57][58] and the 2008 Lashkar-e-Taiba-led attack on downtown Mumbai itself, where gunmen attacked hotels, transportation hubs, tourist areas, and a Jewish cultural center. Del Pozo reported his analyses to the NYPD and other agencies,[59] assessing how these attacks could be replicated by exploiting vulnerabilities in New York City,[60] and what measures could be taken to prevent them.[61] His role was unique in that there was no other U.S. intelligence officer conducting work on behalf of a municipal police department in either region.[62]

Recognition

[edit]

In May 2016, PERF awarded del Pozo its annual Gary Hayes Memorial Award for innovation and leadership.[7]

Resignation

[edit]

Del Pozo resigned as chief on December 16, 2019, after disclosing that he had used an anonymous Twitter account to tweet at a critic of the city for an hour about the person's criticism of outdoor dining, the city's AmeriCorps program, and the renovation of public parks.[63][64] He told The New York Times that the incident "taught me that nothing good ever comes from letting social media criticism get under your skin."[65]

Bicycle accident

[edit]

In 2018, while training for the Lake Placid Ironman 70.3, del Pozo was seriously injured in a bicycle accident, including three skull fractures, brain hemorrhaging, a partially collapsed lung, and seven other fractures.[66] He was transported by emergency airlift to the ICU at the UVM Medical Center.[67][68] After eight weeks of convalescence, he returned to full duty.[69] Citing concussion symptoms, del Pozo took a second medical leave in the summer of 2019.[70][71]

Personal life

[edit]

Del Pozo married Sarah Carnevale in 2002 and has two sons.[72] He wrote and directed a narrative short film, Sunday 1287,[73] which screened at the Middlebury and Vermont International Film Festivals.[74] The film was based on a crime he investigated while commanding a precinct in the New York borough of the Bronx. An outdoors enthusiast, he has climbed New Hampshire's 48 highest mountains,[75] completed the Lake Placid Half Ironman and other triathlons, and written for publications about cycling and climbing.[76][77]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b del Pozo, Brandon. "Researchers@Brown". Brown University. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  2. ^ "Faculty & Staff". Addiction Policy & Practice. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  3. ^ Leslie, Alexandra (September 2, 2015). "Brandon del Pozo Sworn In As Burlington's New Police Chief". Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  4. ^ "Council on Criminal Justice Member Directory- Brandon del Pozo". September 1, 2023.
  5. ^ "Meet the LEADS Scholarship Recipients". National Institute of Justice. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  6. ^ Saman (July 28, 2022). "LEAP Scholars & Investigators Program 2022-2023". Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network Coordination and Translation Center. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Chief Brandon del Pozo Awarded National Innovation & Leadership Award by Top Progressive Policing Organization | City of Burlington, Vermont". burlingtonvt.gov. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  8. ^ a b "'Philosopher commander' at 6th". thevillager.com. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  9. ^ "WestView Letter June 2012: Beyond the Letter of the Law". June 1, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  10. ^ "Climb Every Mountain | Dartmouth Alumni Magazine". dartmouthalumnimagazine.com. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  11. ^ a b School, Harvard Kennedy. "NYPD Crimson". hks.harvard.edu. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  12. ^ "Del Pozo passes top cop torch at the Five-O". June 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  13. ^ DaSilva, Staci (September 1, 2015). "BTV Police Chief Reflects On 9/11 Experience As NYPD Officer". Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  14. ^ Pozo, Brandon del. "Brandon del Pozo". Brandon del Pozo. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  15. ^ "RePORT ⟩ RePORTER". reporter.nih.gov. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  16. ^ del Pozo, Brandon; Knorre, Alex; Mello, Michael J.; Chalfin, Aaron (December 22, 2022). "Comparing Risks of Firearm-Related Death and Injury Among Young Adult Males in Selected US Cities With Wartime Service in Iraq and Afghanistan". JAMA Network Open. 5 (12): e2248132. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.48132. ISSN 2574-3805. PMC 9856602. PMID 36547982.
  17. ^ "Violence in some Chicago neighborhoods puts young men at greater risk than U.S. troops faced in Iraq, Afghanistan war zones, study finds". Chicago Sun-Times. February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  18. ^ Ray, Bradley; Korzeniewski, Steven J.; Mohler, George; Carroll, Jennifer J.; Del Pozo, Brandon; Victor, Grant; Huynh, Philip; Hedden, Bethany J. (2023). "Spatiotemporal Analysis Exploring the Effect of Law Enforcement Drug Market Disruptions on Overdose, Indianapolis, Indiana, 2020–2021". American Journal of Public Health. 113 (750–758): 747–. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2023.307291. PMC 10262257.
  19. ^ Chalfin, Aaron; del Pozo, Brandon; Mitre-Becerril, David (November 13, 2023). "Overdose Prevention Centers, Crime, and Disorder in New York City". JAMA Network Open. 6 (11): e2342228. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.42228. ISSN 2574-3805. PMC 10644216. PMID 37955901.
  20. ^ Zoorob, Michael J.; Park, Ju Nyeong; Kral, Alex H.; Lambdin, Barrot H.; del Pozo, Brandon (September 5, 2024). "Drug Decriminalization, Fentanyl, and Fatal Overdoses in Oregon". JAMA Network Open. 7 (9): e2431612. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.31612. ISSN 2574-3805. PMC 11378001. PMID 39235814.
  21. ^ del Pozo, Brandon; Sightes, Emily; Kang, Sunyou; Goulka, Jeremiah; Ray, Bradley; Beletsky, Leo A. (November 24, 2021). "Can touch this: training to correct police officer beliefs about overdose from incidental contact with fentanyl". Health & Justice. 9 (1): 34. doi:10.1186/s40352-021-00163-5. ISSN 2194-7899. PMC 8612110. PMID 34817717.
  22. ^ Echeverria, Danielle (April 9, 2022). "Police officers say they're overdosing from fentanyl exposure. What's really going on?". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  23. ^ ""Arrest All Street Mendicants and Beggars:" Homelessness, Social Cooperation, and the Commitments of Democratic Policing". www.law.georgetown.edu. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  24. ^ del Pozo, Brandon. "Why the Drug Reform Movement Looks Like its Failing". The Boston Globe. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  25. ^ "The Police and the State". The Police and the State. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  26. ^ "The Police and the State | Political philosophy". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  27. ^ a b "Commander's goal is to make Village area 'safe for everyone'". thevillager.com. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  28. ^ Freese, Alicia. "Burlington's Top Cop, Brandon del Pozo, Aims to Rewrite Policing". Seven Days. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  29. ^ Hallenbeck, Terri. "Burlington City Councilors Stand By Their Man: Del Pozo Is New Police Chief". Seven Days. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  30. ^ Hallenbeck, Terri. "Burlington City Council Backs del Pozo for Police Chief". Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  31. ^ Freese, Alicia. "Del Pozo's Diagnosis: Police Chief Outlines Opiate Strategy". Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  32. ^ Freese, Alicia. "Help Wanted: Two Good People To Assist Burlington in Addressing the Opiate Problem". Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  33. ^ "Burlington Officers to Carry Opiate Overdose Antidote Naloxone" (PDF). Burlington Police Department (Press release). January 8, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 28, 2017.
  34. ^ del Pozo, Brandon (March 2022). "CommunityStat: A Public Health Intervention to Reduce Opioid Overdose Deaths in Burlington, Vermont, 2017–2020". Contemporary Drug Problems. 49 (1): 3–19. doi:10.1177/00914509211052107. ISSN 0091-4509. PMC 8782438. PMID 35068616.
  35. ^ "BTV's opioid-policy leader pioneers data-based approach". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  36. ^ Szalavitz, Maia; Rinkunas, Susan (June 2, 2018). "These Cities Are Finally Making Addiction Meds Easier to Get". Tonic. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  37. ^ "Viral Opioid Obituary — And Police Chief's Response — Show Journey Of Addiction, Resilience". WAMU. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  38. ^ "Chief: More drug treatment needed in prison". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  39. ^ Freese, Alicia. "Burlington to Ease Access to Opioid Addiction Medication". Seven Days. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  40. ^ Szalavitz, Maia (June 2, 2018). "These Cities Are Finally Making Addiction Meds Easier to Get". Vice. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  41. ^ @DA_LarryKrasner (January 2, 2020). "Grateful to you all for leading the way". Twitter. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  42. ^ del Pozo, Brandon (March 2022). "CommunityStat: A Public Health Intervention to Reduce Opioid Overdose Deaths in Burlington, Vermont, 2017–2020". Contemporary Drug Problems. 49 (1): 3–19. doi:10.1177/00914509211052107. ISSN 0091-4509. PMC 8782438. PMID 35068616.
  43. ^ Ready-Campbell, Cyrus (September 15, 2017). "No waiting lists for opioid treatment". VTDigger. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  44. ^ Jickling, Katie. "Opioid Deaths Rise in Vermont but Plummet in Chittenden County". Seven Days. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  45. ^ del Pozo, Brandon (October 6, 2021). "CommunityStat: A Public Health Intervention to Reduce Opioid Overdose Deaths in Burlington, Vermont, 2017–2020". Contemporary Drug Problems. 49 (1): 3–19. doi:10.1177/00914509211052107. ISSN 0091-4509. PMC 8782438. PMID 35068616.
  46. ^ "Burlington police post shooting videos online". Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  47. ^ "BPD training teaches peaceful deescalation". Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  48. ^ Aragon, Rachel (September 1, 2016). "BTV Police Undergo De-Escalation Crisis Training". Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  49. ^ "Burlington Police Department adds two scout robots". Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  50. ^ "When Tasers fail". Reveal. May 1, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  51. ^ @BrandondelPozo (March 1, 2018). "Last May, Corporal Mike Hemond, gun drawn on a crowded street, faced a robbery suspect bearing down on him in a car. He could've shot, but didn't. The suspect was later arrested. Today, I gave CPL Hemond the Chief's Award for this & other acts of courage. http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2017/05/23/chief-body-cam-video-shows-officers-bravery-and-restraint/339361001/ …pic.twitter.com/4zDKEUCDa5". Twitter. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  52. ^ Murray, Elizabeth. "Chief: Body cam video shows officer's restraint". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  53. ^ "Recruits suffer concussions during 'Hitchhiker Scenario' police academy drill". VTDigger. January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  54. ^ French, Ellie (October 9, 2019). "Police academy settles for $30,000 in 'hitchhiker scenario' suit". VTDigger. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  55. ^ Dickey, Christopher (2009). Securing the City: Inside America's Best Counterterror Force—The NYPD. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 147.
  56. ^ Butcher, Tim (September 4, 2006). "Terror in the amphitheatre as tourists are shot". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  57. ^ Comiskey, John (2010). EFFECTIVE STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL POLICE INTELLIGENCE: THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT'S INTELLIGENCE ENTERPRISE. Monterey, CA: The US Naval Postgraduate School. p. 71.
  58. ^ "Mumbai terror makes NYPD Blue - Times of India". The Times of India. July 21, 2006.
  59. ^ "Mumbai Attacks Offer Clues To Security". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  60. ^ "How Safe Are Hotels and Other Urban Spaces? | WNYC | New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News". WNYC. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  61. ^ "Counterterrorism and Intelligence" (PDF). Center for Law and Human Behavior, UT el Paso.
  62. ^ Dahl, Erik J. (July 3, 2014). "Local approaches to counterterrorism: the New York Police Department model". Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism. 9 (2): 81–97. doi:10.1080/18335330.2014.940815. ISSN 1833-5330. S2CID 154127041.
  63. ^ Murray, Elizabeth. "Burlington Police Chief del Pozo resigns: Here's how he got to that point". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  64. ^ Lamdin, Courtney. "Burlington Police Chief Admits He Used an Anonymous Twitter Account to Taunt a Critic". Seven Days. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  65. ^ Cramer, Maria (February 1, 2020). "Yet Another Vermont Police Chief Quits Over Fake Social Media Accounts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  66. ^ Johnson, Mark (August 12, 2018). "'I was doing what thousands of athletes have done'". VTDigger. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  67. ^ Goldstein, Sasha. "Burlington Police Chief del Pozo Hospitalized After Serious Bike Crash in Adirondacks". Seven Days. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  68. ^ Murray, Will DiGravio and Elizabeth. "Burlington Police Chief del Pozo injured in Adirondack bicycle crash on Ironman route". The Burlington Free Press. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  69. ^ Johnson, Mark (August 1, 2018). "I was doing what thousands of athletes have done". VTDigger. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  70. ^ Murray, Elizabeth. "Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo on family and medical leave of absence". The Burlington Free Press. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  71. ^ Hewitt, Elizabeth (August 4, 2019). "Burlington police chief takes leave of absence". VTDigger. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  72. ^ Ellin, Abby (March 3, 2002). "WEDDINGS: VOWS; Sarah Carnevale and Brandon del Pozo". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  73. ^ Sunday 1287, retrieved July 13, 2017
  74. ^ Isaacs, Abby (October 2, 2016). "Burlington Police Chief directs film to play in Vermont International Film Festival". WPTZ. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  75. ^ Brandon del Pozo '96 | Jan – Feb 2016. "Climb Every Mountain". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Retrieved February 22, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  76. ^ "Adirondack Life Blog Archive Cycle Adirondacks – Adirondack Life". adirondacklifemag.com. May 23, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  77. ^ "Adirondack Life Article – The Ice Man – Adirondack Life". adirondacklifemag.com. April 6, 2017. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
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