{"id":610139,"date":"2021-08-03T17:21:35","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T21:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=610139"},"modified":"2021-08-03T17:21:37","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T21:21:37","slug":"ben-jerrys-urged-its-hometown-to-slash-police-force-so-businesses-launched-their-own-safety-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ben-jerrys-urged-its-hometown-to-slash-police-force-so-businesses-launched-their-own-safety-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben &#038; Jerry\u2019s Urged Its Hometown To Slash Police Force, So Businesses Launched Their Own Safety Program"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fben-jerrys-urged-its-hometown-to-slash-police-force-so-businesses-launched-their-own-safety-program%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=610139&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1172004806.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Businesses in Burlington, Vermont have launched a safety escort program for women and anyone else who feels unsafe downtown since the city\u2019s police force was slashed, causing crime to tick upwards.<\/p>\n<p>Burlington <a href=\"https:\/\/www.burlingtonfreepress.com\/story\/news\/local\/2020\/07\/01\/burlington-city-council-passes-budget-police-force-cuts\/3285211001\/\">cut<\/a> its police department by 30% in July last year, just days after ice cream giant Ben &amp; Jerry\u2019s, which was founded in Burlington, issued a call to \u201cdefund the police.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cdefund the police\u201d movement \u201coffers the best opportunity in generations to completely transform our model of policing and create stronger, safer communities where Black Americans and people of color can finally experience and celebrate true freedom,\u201d Ben &amp; Jerry\u2019s said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benjerry.com\/whats-new\/2020\/06\/defund-the-police\">statement<\/a> in June, 2020.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s dismantle the old system and build a new one that guarantees freedom and justice for all,\u201d Ben &amp; Jerry\u2019s said.<\/p>\n<p>Less than two weeks later on July 1, the City Council passed a $78 million general fund budget for fiscal year 2021, which included a mandate to cut the Burlington Police Department by 30%. The budget also included $1 million for racial justice.<\/p>\n<p>The city cut the maximum number of police officers from 105 to 74, meaning no new officers would be hired until the total number of Burlington cops fell below 74.<\/p>\n<p>The city\u2019s police have responded to a spike in crime in recent weeks, including burglary, vandalism, disorderly conduct, a stabbing, an assault with brass knuckles, and a hammer assault on a restaurant employee. This year, a Downtown Safety Survey <a href=\"https:\/\/vermontbiz.com\/news\/2021\/july\/20\/burlington-businesses-respond-increase-violent-attacks\">showed<\/a> that 51% of respondents said they have been a \u201cvictim of crime or harassment during, coming from, or leaving work downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last month, businesses in downtown Burlington took matters into their own hands.<\/p>\n<p>The Burlington Business Association sounded the alarm on increasing crime and announced the launch of the \u201cSafety Escort Program\u201d for employees, especially women who are fearful about leaving work at night, and anyone else who requests help.<\/p>\n<p>The BBA said it plans to hire a private security company for the program. The plan is to have a safety escort arrive within 15 minutes to help anyone who requests one by calling or texting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t continue to have women not wanting to work down here because they\u2019re afraid,\u201d said Kelly Devine, the BBA\u2019s executive director, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.burlingtonfreepress.com\/story\/news\/2021\/07\/23\/burlington-vt-businesses-plan-safety-escorts-mayor-weinberger-sees-no-crime-spike\/8039408002\/\">told<\/a> the Burlington Free Press.<\/p>\n<p>Women who work in downtown Burlington have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mychamplainvalley.com\/news\/local-news\/burlington-businesses-respond-to-recent-violence-with-new-safety-escort-program\/\">reported<\/a> being harassed by men as they left work at night.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can pretend this isn\u2019t happening, but for the Burlington community and female workers it\u2019s time to speak out,\u201d Devine said.&nbsp;\u201cTo cut the police force by 30% with no alternative plan in place is a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a woman leader, I felt like I had to do something,\u201d she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mychamplainvalley.com\/news\/local-news\/burlington-businesses-respond-to-recent-violence-with-new-safety-escort-program\/\">said<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s not who we are as Burlington and that\u2019s not okay to allow that to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben &amp; Jerry\u2019s has become vocal in its support for progressive causes in recent years. The company first publicly expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement in 2016. The company\u2019s activism has even spilled over into its ice cream products with flavors like Pecan Resist and Justice ReMix\u2019d.<\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Businesses in Burlington, Vermont have launched a safety escort program for women and anyone else who feels unsafe downtown since the city\u2019s police force was slashed, causing crime to tick &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-610139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}