Editor’s note: The following was sent to Dover’s mayor, City Council and others.
Good morning, all! Did you forget about the constituents that you serve in the city?
This city promised back in June the police mobile substation would service both city residents and businesses alike. Now, the same ones that promised that would happen are now back to just providing protection for the businesses.
A bricks-and-mortar substation is just for businesses, which means I see little intention to provide the same protection for the residents.
Constituents — residents and businesses alike — were promised the mobile substation to service the entire community, and it has not been launched in the capacity in which it was promised.
This is smoke and mirrors, and now, you are speaking about businesses needing protection! This is not a mystery; both residents and businesses have been needing protection. This city seems to be putting businesses over residents. It’s visible at this point. You want to create ordinances that will have a negative effect on innocent members of the community, to call it a resolution and give protection to the businesses. This is ridiculous.
Gang violence is going to increase, and the shootings will definitely increase, which means more young Blacks being buried!
If you have money to provide a bricks-and-mortar for these businesses, then you have the money to launch the substation as promised, and that will dissolve the need of a bricks-and-mortar. The councilmen seeking the bricks-and-mortar are the same councilmen who spoke on the mobile substation.
The media already has the history and stories. Let’s start asking the fact-finding questions as to why the mobile substations are not launched in the manner in which they were promised?!
Let’s ask why is this bringing the appearance that businesses are this city’s top priority, as opposed to residents? Let’s ask why ordinances proposed to affect innocent residents are attempted to be put in place, as opposed to the protection residents were promised — same as businesses — through the mobile substation.
These downtown businesses don’t care if it’s bricks-and-mortar or the mobile substation. They just want increased police presence. This is local government trying to put lipstick on a pig and call it a woman. Newsflash: It’s still a pig. Do what you said you were going to do.
What is hard about doing what you promised?
This is why you can’t bridge the gap with the Black communities because you continue to neglect in fulfillment of your promises. Local government is showing they can’t be trusted … period!
Lachelle D. Paul
Dover
