Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, left, and Jon Murad. Photos by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak on Wednesday issued an executive order requiring that the Burlington Police Department send its press releases to her office for approval before being shared with the public. The order wrests full autonomy of the release of public information away from the department and from outgoing police Chief Jon Murad.The order will remain in effect “until further notice” but “may be rescinded” upon the review and approval of a new press release policy within the department, according to the order.“Our press releases related to public safety need to include core facts that are needed for the public’s benefit, and nothing more,” Mulvaney-Stanak said in a phone call.Murad, in a phone call, said, “It’s a lawful executive order, and the Burlington Police Department will follow it.” He declined to comment any further.The Progressive mayor’s decision follows recent statements made in a police press release regarding Mike Reynolds — a Burlington man with a years-long record of felony convictions, charges and nuisance calls.Reynolds has more police encounters than anyone else in the department’s records management system, with more than 1,850 entries, police said in a Dec. 30 press release. He’s had 170 no trespass notices filed against him by city property owners.READ MORE Murad, in the Dec. 30 press release, pointed to Reynolds’ long criminal history and urged a harsher punishment, writing that Reynolds “has harmed huge numbers of people; he routinely endangers himself and others; and Burlington’s officers deal with him more than any other person.”He further urged state prosecutors to utilize legislation that would allow them to seek enhanced penalties against offenders who commit a felony after having been convicted of three previously.Murad’s statement prompted Reynolds’ attorney, Joshua O’Hara, to request a gag order against Murad and other police officers from making public statements about Reynolds, according to reporting from Seven Days.O’Hara, according to Seven Days, said in court documents that Murad’s statements “threatened to undermine Michael Reynolds’ right to a fair trial.”Murad’s statements and the press release have since made the rounds in local media. Reynolds’ case was featured on the WBUR Boston program “On Point,” which questioned whether mandating mental health care could help those in need of treatment.Previous Burlington police press releases have also taken pains to spell out the lengthy criminal records of those arrested and pointed to instances in which they’ve avoided incarceration.Mulvaney-Stanak, in a phone interview Thursday, said she issued the executive order “to make sure the city continues to do its part to make sure that people have all the ability to have a fair trial and due process, and their rights are respected.”In the order, the mayor gave the department leeway to issue a release in the event of urgent situations, such as missing persons alerts or evacuation warnings.The department’s policy around public information is currently guided by a policy adopted by the city’s police commission in 2010 that states the department will “maintain a public information function responsible for cultivating positive police-media and community relations and fulfilling the public’s desire to be informed of matters involving public safety and department operations.”Murad announced in November that he would be stepping down from his role in April. Mulvaney-Stanak said the city will soon issue a request for proposal to hire a firm to assist in the search and community engagement process for a new permanent chief.Read the story on VTDigger here: Burlington mayor issues order requiring her approval of police press releases.