Business owners in a New England college city are reportedly close to a breaking point as crime affects its downtown, potentially bringing trouble for students’ parents and leaf-peeping tourists in the area.

Officials in Burlington, Vermont — home to the University of Vermont — have said they are working on new strategies to combat crime in the city’s downtown, where business owners have raised concerns about graffiti, shoplifting, and open drug use. While Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak has noted there is no simple solution, she has argued that a heavier police presence could undermine progress, local news outlet WCAX Channel 3 reported .

Jimmy Baldea, a deputy with the Rutland County Sheriff’s Office, about 65 miles south of Burlington, told Fox News Digital that the mayor should reconsi

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