Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams defended the city’s crime fighting efforts in a letter to legislators representing the city but took exception with the lack of strings attached to funding for Dover police.
City Council President Theo Gregory responded by strongly advising Williams to seek common ground with the state or run the risk of the city losing its autonomy on policing.
Earlier, additional funding for carrying out the work of a blue-ribbon panel that studied the city’s homicide rate was approved by the Joint Finance Committee of the General Assembly.
The commission was formed amid concerns from the business community and residents over the city’s high homicide rate.
The committee did demand a report on progress by the city in complying with the recommendations of the report that among other things recommended restructuring efforts that would not leave the department short staffed at various times.
Other law enforcement agencies have filled those gaps.
In thanking legislators for their support, Williams said department “has also implemented 90 percent of the recommendations from the Wilmington Public Safety Strategies Commission Report.”
He also cited a sharp increase in resolving homicide cases and greater cooperation with other law enforcement agencies.
“Increasing the size of the Homicide Unit and creating a Homicide/Violent Crime Unit has allowed for a comprehensive approach to investigating violent crime. In addition, the renewed emphasis on community policing has led to an increase in crime clearance rates and strengthened relationships between the police and the community. Specifically, the department has produced a 50 percent clearance rate for homicide cases in 2015, compared to the department’s previous 12 to 16 percent clearance rates. The department’s partnerships with various law enforcement agencies, including the DOJ and FBI, led to a 91 count indictment against 13 gang members involving six homicides, numerous violent crimes, and weapons charges. Implementation of deployment strategies such as DISRUPT, have contributed to a steady decrease in Part I, II and III crime offenses and a reduction in overall crime since 2012.”
Williams asked the Wilmington delegation to work with the city to ensure Wilmington is treated with the same fairness and cooperation as other cities and towns in the State of Delaware.
He then took a swipe at the JFC’s stance on funding for Dover Police.
“I expect this relationship to be based on a foundation of fairness. The City of Dover has tripled their number of homicides from last year, which is the highest number the city has recorded since at least 1988. Yet the funding provided by the Joint Finance Committee to address Dover’s public safety issues contained no strings or stipulations.”
Gregory advised cooperation in a statement released Thursday morning.
“I believe that if the administration and state can work together on this issue, both will find common ground that will lead to enhanced efforts to reduced crime,” Gregory stated. “Such cooperation will also negate the need to push this issue into dangerous territory which no one wants—the elimination of the City’s unilateral authority to oversee police operations. I am opposed to any effort to reduce the city’s policing authority and will fight all such attempts.”
Gregory went on to urge the administration to release data that would allow the state to fund additional resources to fight crime.
The council has largely supported the findings of the commission except in cases where no funding was available.
Williams had not always been a vocal backer of the work of the commission that studied a high homicide rate that led to the Newsweek story entitled Murder Town USA and planned to a pilot TV show on ABC TV.
Williams had earlier been criticized for not showing up at meetings of the group that studied operations of the department and for grudgingly accepting its findings.
Williams has also resisted suggestions to go outside the Police Department for a new chief. There have been three chiefs during Williams’ first term.
