By Leann Schenke

DOVER — Citing recent shootings and increased gang activity in the city, Chelle Paul is calling on the Dover City Council and Dover Police Department to hold a special meeting to address public safety.

“The city is failing to provide safety to its residents,” said Ms. Paul, who serves as chairperson of the Criminal Justice Committee for the NAACP Delaware State Conference Branches, in an interview last Wednesday.

Ms. Paul also raised concerns that a pilot program for Dover PD’s mobile command unit is not going be used to combat gang activity, as it was originally advertised to citizens.

Dover Police spokesman Sgt. Mark Hoffman said Friday the Dover police are focused on reducing gang activity. He said police also have an obligation to provide services throughout the city.

“We’re going to focus on the areas that need our attention the most and need the highest amount of services,” Mr. Hoffman said.
Ms. Paul wrote Mayor Robin Christiansen and Chief Thomas Johnson calling for a special meeting to address business owners’ concerns after incidents of looting took place at the Dover Mall last June. She raised concerns the city council will not hold a special meeting now for community members who are concerned about gang activity.

Mr. Hoffman said the Dover Police Department is supportive of a meeting between the public, police and members of city council. Mayor Robin Christiansen also spoke in support of the meeting, though he noted previous meetings have “to date, produced nothing different than what we’re trying to do,” he said.

“I go to any meeting that anybody wants me to go to as long as we come up with a game plan that’s different than the one that we have,” Mayor Christiansen said. “I don’t think that you could come up with a better game plan than the one that the Dover Police Department and the mayor and council have come up to protect the citizens throughout this entire city.”

During a May 25 Dover City Council meeting, Chief Johnson provided an update about a pilot program for the mobile command unit. For cost-savings on the initial program, he said the police department will utilize one of its existing vehicles, a 2001 Ford Chassis that will be refitted to serve as a mobile command post.

If the mobile command unit proves to be successful, Chief Johnson said he would then revisit further investing in equipment. Mayor Christiansen also said at the May 25 meeting that this mobile type of policing will allow officers to respond to a variety of situations. Councilman Fred Neil suggested the vehicle could be used to assist in crowd management at the Firefly Music Festival or sporting events.

Ms. Paul said she would like to see a mobile command unit working primarily within high crime areas. She said having police in those areas could have multiple benefits.

“It gives the communities an actual unit and they familiarize themselves with the officers that are working on this unit,” Ms. Paul said. “These officers are there and they are there to help these people in their communities. They are there to provide protection.”

She said a mobile unit also can be a positive for police officers.

“Those officers are there to police and protect people,” Ms. Paul said. “They have to familiarize themselves with the people that are in the area so that they can know who is supposed to be there and who is not. Then they’re also going to build a rapport with these residents.”

Ms. Paul said a mobile command unit can help “bridge the gap” between residents and officers.

“(Police) know they need the help of residents in order to make sure they are doing their job to combat the crime and get the crime rate down,” Ms. Paul said.

She said the mobile unit has the benefit of being able to follow crime and “drive it out” as it moves within the city.

“As the crime moves to a different area, the (unit) will move to that area as well until you force these people out of the city limits,” Ms. Paul said. “Crime is not going to stay where there is a chance to get arrested.”

From Ms. Paul’s perspective, Mayor Christiansen is hesitant to “shed light on the gang issues” because it could affect potential economic growth in the city.

“The perception given by the mayor is that he does not wish to address the issues due to the impact it will have on the city’s economic growth,” Ms. Paul wrote. “The safety of the residents should be first, as there is no economic growth without the residents.”

Mayor Christiansen said his top priority is public safety rather than economic development.

“I’m really kind of disheartened that anybody would think that I don’t care about the lives of our young people that are being wasted with these senseless shootings,” Mayor Christiansen said.

He noted public safety is an aspect to increase economic development.

“If I don’t have safety to offer to potential employers and businesses coming here, they’re not going to come here,” Mayor Christiansens said. “The jobs that we desperately need for our young people and all of our citizens across the board won’t come, but public safety is number one for me and the members of city council.”

He said the council’s support of Chief Johnson’s programs for community policing, partnerships with Delaware State Police on parole and probation highlight a commitment to reducing crime.

He noted the community must be committed to public safety as well.

“Public safety is a two-way street,” Mayor Christiansen said. “We provide public safety via the police department and the different units we have out on the street, but the public has to be the other part of policing in the city of Dover.”

Mayor Christiansen said he has received an email from a citizen asking for a curfew to be put in place. While he said he will not “entertain” ideas of a curfew, he asked that the community continue to offer ideas for combating crime.

“Well, I’m not going to do that because the rest of the citizens of the city who are not affected, who are not part of the criminal activity, deserve to live their life and be free to do what they need to do on the streets and travel freely,” Mayor Christiansen said. “I’m not even going to entertain that at this point in time. What I will entertain is some of my critics, critics of the police department, critics of the members of council to come forward with a plan that’s different than ours that we put in place now.”