CRIME

The prosperity we seek to build in Delaware will be impossible if we do not get violent crime under control. It is the chief responsibility of the government to protect its citizenry from harm to themselves and their property, but too many places in Delaware have elevated the comfort of criminals above the rights of the people.

Even before the recent shocking rise in shootings in Wilmington, the city had earned the dubious distinction of “Murder Town USA.” The most recent FBI statistics from 2019 show you are more than seven times more likely to be murdered in Wilmington than the national average, six times more likely to be robbed and four times more likely to be assaulted. In 2019, one in every 63 people was a victim of violent crime in our state’s biggest city, and one in 112 in our state capitol of Dover, making both among the most dangerous cities in America. And things are only getting worse.

Since then, Wilmington has seen a dramatic increase in shootings. The first half of 2021 saw nearly double the number of homicide incidents compared to 2020, which was up 50 percent from 2019.

The rise in shootings is not unique to Delaware. In major cities across the nation violence is on the rise. Factors related to the pandemic may have contributed, but there can be little doubt that attitudes surrounding policing in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder are significant factors.

The vast majority of police officers do their job with distinction, and they deserve to be supported and given the tools they need to do jobs where split second judgements can mean the difference between life and death. Calls for defunding of police departments and reckless condemnations of law enforcement as an institution are unfair and dangerous both to officers and the general public.

Our jails have become unreliable where criminals cycle through back onto the streets without paying a price. The Wilmington chief of police has observed that those his department arrests don’t see any consequences for their behavior.

In 2018, a new state law eliminated cash and secured bail for defendants. Predictably, people who should have been kept behind bars were released, in some cases to deadly consequences such as when Lew Gill was arrested in a domestic violence incident only to return after his immediate release and murder his wife and her friend.

Attorney General Kathy Jennings, supposedly the state’s top prosecutor, issued an edict in 2019 directing her staff to go easy on criminals by, among other things, refusing to prosecute a variety of crimes, releasing criminals without bail, and recommending lighter sentences.

It’s time to reinvest in the police to ensure our neighborhoods enjoy a police presence that deters crime before it happens, to provide officers with the tools they need to enforce the law, and to provide them both the adequate training to deescalate threatening situations where they can and the necessary protections they need to confront danger confidently when they must.

We need to continue to be vigilant and work toward a justice system that is fair, equitable and accountable for all – the accused, victims of crime and the police who are on the frontlines. In the long run, we can beat the crime epidemic by improving our education system so every kid graduates high school with hope and opportunity for a productive life.