A New York police officer with 24 years of municipal experience appears to be in line as the next police chief for the city of Burlington.

Multiple sources have told Vermont News First that Anthony W. Geraci, who has about 4 years’ experience as a police chief, is the final choice of Progressive Party Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.

The sources told VNF they were familiar with the hiring process, but said they were not authorized to speak publicly due to the confidential method mandated by the Mayor for the search.

Geraci was one of three out-of-state finalists for the post, Vermont News First was told.  There were no known serious candidates applying from within Vermont, VNF learned during its investigation into the Mayor’s hiring process.

The national search reportedly generated 15 applications by the June 5 deadline.  The process has been filled with confidentiality.  Even the names of the three finalists were withheld, and there was no chance for a “meet-and-greet” for the public like some searches for top jobs.

Mulvaney-Stanak, in a brief text message on Sunday, told Vermont News First only that the appointment is not on the agenda for Monday’s City Council meeting. 

Mulvaney-Stanak has said she hoped to make the name of the new police chief public in early November.  Mulvaney-Stanak has said she will ask the Burlington City Council to affirm her appointment at a meeting Nov. 9.  It is unclear, if and when, the council will be given all the background on Geraci.

A background check has been underway, and Geraci has been visiting Burlington in recent weeks.  The conditional offer from the Mayor was subject to passing a background check and a lie detector test.  The job was advertised with a salary of up to $177,255 a year plus benefits.

Attempts by Vermont News First to reach Geraci over the weekend were unsuccessful.

Burlington is seeking a permanent replacement for Police Chief Jon Murad, who left in April 2025.  Interim Police Chief Shawn Burke, who was police chief in South Burlington for 7 years, agreed to return to Burlington to serve two years while the Mayor recruited a new department head.  Burke served earlier with Burlington Police for 21 years.

Geraci, 49, has had an interesting police career, including about 16 years with the Albany, N.Y. Police. He is a graduate from the FBI Executive Development Seminar.  He jumped in July 2019 to become police chief for Watervliet, N.Y., about 10 miles north of Albany.

He later lost the job in Watervliet, N.Y., in early 2020 when the city opted to initially furlough Geraci due to a projected municipal budget deficit.  Geraci, who did not have an employment contract, was never brought back to work by the Albany suburb.

Later Geraci became chief for the Newburgh, N.Y. Police Department, where three women accused him of several workplace issues, including gender discrimination, retaliation and creating a hostile work environment, according to multiple news accounts.

Geraci was later cleared, and he maintained the leak of the claims in June 2024 — after he left the department — were “retaliatory” in an effort to “tarnish” his character, the news reported.  The internal investigative report into the claims by the three women was released following a public records request by News 12 TV.

As soon as Geraci arrived in Newburgh, N.Y., which has a history of high crime, the city manager put a gag order on the police chief and other officials in an effort to paint the community in a positive light.  The directive was designed to keep the public from learning about major crimes, including homicides, rapes, shootings, fights, drug deals and more that were ongoing.

Newburgh, which has about 69 police officers, was facing nearly daily shootings and all press releases from the police department had to go through City Hall.  The City Manager refused to respond to news media inquiries even when major crimes, including homicides, were known,  news reports said.  One TV outlet reported it had gone without an interview with Chief Geraci for three years since shortly after his hiring.  The police department’s Facebook page went seven months without posting about a single crime, while other nearby police agencies shared crime alerts each day, News 12 reported.

Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak had imposed a similar sweeping gag order on Police Chief Murad in January 2025 for about six months, but eventually lifted the muzzle as she and police continued to come under fire for either not releasing the news or providing it late to the media.

Geraci comes from a police family with five members dedicated to law enforcement service, including his father, brother-in-law and twin brother, according to a news story about him being sworn in as Newburgh chief. 

His father, Michael Geraci, served as police chief in Schenectady, N.Y. from 2002-07.

One of the first things Geraci will need to address is the serious staffing shortage caused by a Defund the Police movement by the Burlington City Council in June 2020 that cut the authorized strength from 105 sworn officers to 74. The vote was 9-3 to cut the force by 30 percent.

The roster continues to shrink and recruitment remains tough.  Gov. Phil Scott has ordered the Vermont State Police into Burlington a couple of times to help patrol downtown, while the Chittenden County Sheriff’s Office is being used to patrol the Leahy International Airport due to limited staffing.

Vermont News First traced Anthony Geraci’s police career through public records, interviews and news accounts.

Geraci began as a police cadet with New York City Police in 1998 and was hired as a fulltime officer by the department the following year.  He remained there until 2003 when he joined the Albany Police in New York’s Capital City.  Geraci worked his way up through the ranks in Albany until he became a lieutenant, a post he held for about 7 years.

He served in patrol and training, where he was involved in establishing the department’s academy, and for his final two years he was in the neighborhood engagement unit.

Geraci resigned from Albany in July 2019 to accept the post of police chief in nearby Watervliet, N.Y. overseeing a 25-member department.  He lasted only until May 2020 when Watervliet City General Manager Joe LaCivita said he was furloughing the $96,000-a-year police chief for up to 90 days due to a COVID-19 related projected budget deficit of $1.2 million, according to news accounts.

ABC-TV News 10 in Albany and the Times Union newspaper quoted the local police union, the Watervliet Benevolent Association, at the time as saying it considered the furlough a firing, and the rank-and-file members wanted Geraci back right away. The union, in a unanimous vote, said the removal was personal in nature and was veiled under reasons of a financial burden. The union called on the mayor or city council to act, but after 8 months the city said it was going in a different direction with somebody with new ideas.

Geraci was the first chief in Watervliet history selected from outside the police department.

Geraci was hired in August 2021 as police chief in Newburgh, N.Y. about 90 miles south of Albany, N.Y. on Interstate 87.   He and a new police commissioner were expected to move to Newburgh within 120 days, but it did not happen despite public pressure.  Instead, Geraci was allowed to remain with the department until May 2024 when he abruptly resigned and accepted the $175,000 a year post of director safety and security for the Newburgh Enlarged City School District.

He left that job March 1, 2025 citing the “abrupt change” in the school district’s leadership.

Geraci most recently has been working as a senior vice president of leadership development for a private employment firm, Strategic Government Resources, which is based in Texas. Among its other consultants is Bill Fraser, who served for 30 years as Montpelier City Manager until June 2025. 

Geraci holds a Bachelor of Science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and a Master of Public Administration from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.  He has served as an adjunct professor at the State University of New York at Albany and Columbia-Greene Community College in Hudson, N.Y.. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police.

His tour of duty for New York City Police included assignment with the 113th Precinct, Transit District 1, Midtown North Precinct, the Anti-Crime Unit and the Police Academy, news accounts note.