Fred Neil is the president of Dover City Council. The following is a written statement presented at a public safety town hall Thursday, April 16.
I am not here tonight because I wish to spend time with my wife, who turned 90 this year and is ailing.
As a young reporter covering the police beat in the 1960s, I learned quickly that crime is not abstract. It has faces, names, victims and consequences. I also learned that every community relies on four essential pillars of justice. If even one weakens, the whole structure leans. If several weaken at once, the system fails the very people it is meant to protect.
Every member of Dover City Council would wave a magic wand to remove crime from our streets, if such a wand existed. But it doesn’t. We rely — as you do — on those four pillars.
Pillar 1: the state legislature
Some Delaware laws, including those dealing with “loitering” and related offenses, were ruled unconstitutional. Once that happened, they became unenforceable. New laws have been proposed to protect individual rights, but some of these proposals unintentionally allow people struggling with addiction or mental illness to continue harming the public without accountability.
Few residents realize the following: If you, I or a police officer revives someone from an overdose using naloxone, that person can legally refuse to go to a hospital or detox. They can walk away and immediately seek money — legally or illegally — for their next fix.
Pillar 2: our police
Because of misconduct in other jurisdictions, police everywhere have been vilified.
Recruitment has become difficult. Yet our officers continue to put their lives on the line for us.
They are frustrated when told that certain offenses — including loitering and prostitution — will not be prosecuted. At the mayor’s direction, Dover created a police Behavioral Health Unit. Its report last October showed that most individuals who were offered help, including those engaged in prostitution, refused it.
Drug enforcement requires direct observation and evidence. Citizens are understandably afraid to testify publicly for fear of retaliation. And officers are demoralized when a solid arrest results in a minimal penalty, and the offender is back on the street within days.
Would fewer young people join gangs if single parents didn’t have to work two or three jobs just to pay rent? Many officers ask that question every day.
Pillar 3: the Department of Justice
The Delaware Department of Justice decides which cases move forward. When prosecutors decline to pursue low-level offenses — even when those offenses stem from addiction or mental illness — the result is predictable. People who cannot help themselves are effectively enabled to continue breaking into homes, cars and businesses, and to use porches, alleys and yards as bathrooms or sleeping areas.
When property is degraded, property values fall. When values fall, tax revenue drops.
And, when revenue drops, every resident feels the impact.
Pillar 4: the courts
Our courts are overloaded. Justice becomes an assembly line. Sentencing guidelines limit what judges can do, and the penalties for many offenses would shock the public if they knew how low they are.
Conclusion: a system that cannot fix itself without all four pillars working together
Unless all four pillars sit at the same table and confront these issues honestly, nothing will change. Are all four here tonight to hear you?
Recently, a group of Dover residents and business owners approached me with a proposal: Restore the Alderman’s Court. They understand that it would not solve every problem, but it would fill a major gap in Delaware’s justice system, by providing local accountability for low-level offenses.
They also warned — not as a threat but as a reality — that investment in Dover will decline if the city cannot address these issues.
It will take a full year to set up the court. The American Civil Liberties Union, the DOJ and other stakeholders have been offered seats at the table to help shape it. But, if the Alderman’s Court is not added to the city charter during this legislative session, Dover will wait at least two more years before any relief arrives. The decision to add it failed by a single missing vote.
The jury is still out.
A call to action
If you want safer streets, stronger neighborhoods and a justice system that protects both compassion and accountability, I urge you to contact your state legislators. Ask them to fix the laws that protect you, your family and your community.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
