The Trolley Square neighborhood was rocked last weekend by news of a shooting outside the Logan House. Details are few, a long-running policy from Wilmington police that sometimes leads to rampant speculation.
To its credit, the landmark eatery and entertainment spot responded that it would work with the city to limit the possibility of a reoccurrence.
Naturally enough, a minor frenzy got underway, along with social media comments on the dangers of living in the city and the usual racial overtones and gun discussions. The bang-bang click-driven coverage lacked context and will lead to a few people shying away from the popular dining, residential, and entertainment areas.
While you might not know it based on the coverage, Wilmington crime is at a six-year low, and Trolley Square may be safer late at night than your average strip center parking lot. One media outlet had to go back in its files to 2018 to find a shots fired incident around Halloween in the same area.
Meanwhile, figures from the city’s CompStat program show a 50% decline in the homicide rate on a six-year average. Sadly, the shooting victim count is down only 25%, but it is much improved from the time when a Newsweek article dubbed Wilmington “Murdertown USA” surfaced. A book followed, and there was word that a TV show was in development.
The situation is far from ideal, and more needs to be done to deal with crime and its root causes.
The hope is that whoever is elected Wilmington mayor stays above petty politics and does not let crime become a secondary issue. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
