Guest Commentary: ACLU: New Castle County residents want police reform
Jasmine Minhas is a paralegal at American Civil Liberties Union Delaware and has been an active leader in the gun violence-prevention space in Delaware through her work with March for Our Lives.
“What have your experiences been with the police in your community?” It’s a simple question that generated lengthy discussion when posed to New Castle County residents.
Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union Delaware organized a town hall event at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Newark to talk openly with the public about policing in the area. As a tool intended for public good, our policing systems should keep communities safe, treat people fairly and use resources wisely. To find out if those goals are being met, we spoke to the people directly about how local policing is impacting them.
The event drew a very diverse and highly engaged crowd that shared a variety of experiences with law enforcement. People from all areas of the county were present — renters in the city, homeowners in the suburbs, predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods, and majority-White ones. Attendees discussed the broader ideas of public safety and were given the opportunity to share their personal stories about policing in New Castle County in a group discussion format.
“These police officers walk around with the sense that they are better than everyone else, with no person or process existing to hold them accountable,” stated one Wilmington attendee. “I have watched the same officer instigate community members in my neighborhood by standing in the street and taunting people to fight him. Things like this happen, are reported, but nothing changes.”
Others voiced concern over a lack of responsiveness in urgent situations, citing up to four-hour wait times for police after placing a call. A mother from the Kirkwood area said that, when she was robbed, the thief laughed in her face when she threatened to call the police, saying: “Go ahead. They won’t be here anytime soon.”
When police officers did manage to be present and responsive, people remarked on the disrespectful nature of the interactions and how involving the police often hurt more than it helped a situation.
A man living in Newark shared, “I want to have someone who I can call when there’s an emergency, but I can’t trust the police with that responsibility. I would have to first prove that I haven’t done anything wrong before I could receive any help.”
Overwhelmingly, there was a feeling of distrust between police and community members, and an acknowledgement of the need for change within the system.
While many of the national conversations around police reform highlight racial disparities — and there are many racial disparities — the town hall attendees strongly felt that policing problems extend far beyond that. New Castle County residents of various racial backgrounds expressed negative experiences with the police.
That needs to change. Now.
Reforming Delaware’s policing system is part of the American Civil Liberties Union Delaware’s broader justice reform initiatives, which seek to amend Delaware’s criminal justice system. Last year, we conducted an extensive investigation into “Operation Safe Streets,” a partnership between the Wilmington Police Department and the Delaware Department of Correction that allows police and probation officers to jointly monitor Delawareans on probation.
The investigative report found that the decades-old program has long been a source of terror for the city’s Black and Brown communities in particular.
In speaking with individuals and families who have had first-hand experience with Operation Safe Streets — including Sharee Congo, a mother who witnessed its officers violently break into her home and beat her son in 2020 — ACLU-DE unearthed many instances of excessive force, hostility and police brutality. In reviewing court cases involving Safe Streets, the organization found several cases in which the officers’ conduct was ruled unlawful.
Despite operating since 1997, minimal official reporting has been released by the Department of Correction or any police agencies on the efficacy and practices of Operation Safe Streets. The most recent report in 2021 came after a 15-year gap in official data and failed to address the many grievances from the community over the years.
When agencies fail in their responsibility to be transparent, it becomes more vital than ever to hear directly from Delawareans about the impact of these programs and the issues they’re facing in their own neighborhoods. Police departments have to be accountable to the people.
We urge those impacted by policing in New Castle County to step forward with their stories. More information for those interested can be found at action.aclu.org/legal-intake/de-legal-claim.
More information about the investigative report on Operation Safe Streets, and the Campaign for Smart Justice, including coalition partners, chapter events and ways to get involved, can be found at http://www.aclu-de.org.
