Wilmington Chief of Police Bobby L. Cummings and Mayor Dennis P. Williams announced a public safety plan that adopts the bulk of findings of a crime commission appointed by Gov. Jack Markell.
A city release said the Wilmington Police Department will concentrate on four specific branches of policing, and creates four new positions; an Inspector of Strategic Planning and Development, an Inspector of Support Services positions, a Chief Information Officer and a Director of Communications. The plan also adds 12 officers to the Homicide/Violent Crimes Unit and moves 25 officers to community policing efforts.
All were mentioned in recommendations by the commission. The commission was appointed in response to a wave of homicides at a time when other cities are seeing declines in crime.
The business community has cautioned Williams that workers are nervous about the situation, despite the fact that the homicides are mainly in a few neighborhoods.
Williams and Cummings have often noted that crime is down in other categories.
The restructuring came after findings by the commission that showed the department is often in a reactive mode, instead of using technology, community policing, a homicide squad and other means to get in front of the violent crime wave.
A release from Williams’ office said the plan “implements 83 percent of the recommendations from the Wilmington Public Safety Strategies Commission Report.”
WDEL, reported the city is still no not on board with a plan for regular police academies, although funding in the new city budget calls for an academy. The irregular nature of the economies has been blamed for problems with short staffing from personal leave and vacations, as well as excessive overtime.
County Police have been backing up city officers at times and State Police have also operated in the city, due, in part, to staffing issues.
The commission report said the inefficiencies come despite the fact that the Wilmington department is well-staffed in comparison with other cities.
“Policing is most effective when the officers are working with the community and not strictly policing it,” said Chief Cummings. “This public safety plan places a strong emphasis on strengthening relationships with the community, while also creating a more efficient organizational structure within the department, implementing crime data analysis initiatives, and expanding pivotal units like the Homicide/ Violent Crimes Unit and Community Policing Unit. These efforts will work toward building safe and strong neighborhoods.”
There had been varied reports on how many of the recommendations would be carried out, with Williams, at times, seeming to show disdain for the work of the commission.
At the same time legislators from the city indicated they would monitor the situation to see if the recommendations are carried out, WDEL reported.
