By Craig Anderson

DOVER — Sixty shooting incidents occurred during 2020, including nine homicides, in the city of Dover.

Last year, three people died among 47 shootings in Delaware’s capital city.

Since 2019 in Dover, burglaries dropped from 90 to 62 to 44 annually.

Robberies fell to 20 in 2021, a significant reduction from the 51 in 2019.

And as the number of felonies dropped, the percentage of those that police cleared increased markedly.

While crime trends are subject to change, Criminal Investigations Unit Supervisor Sgt. Kevin Streadwick said, “We all know this runs in cycles and we’re in a good cycle right now.”

According to Dover Police Chief Thomas Johnson, thast positivity has been fueled by the department’s harmonized efforts, vital support from Mayor Robin R. Christiansen and City Council, and a push for the Community Policing Unit to connect with the citizens and entities such as clergy, business owners, civic organizations and homeowners. Members of the public sitting on the Police Chief’s Advisory Committee provided a boost as well, he said.

“This is a 100 percent reflection of many things,” he said.

Through a generally better connection with police, Chief Johnson said, community members have stepped forward with information critical to solving crimes.

“When victims cooperate with us and tell us what happened and follow through with the process the way it is constructed, we can get people held accountable for their behavior, and that solves crimes and also prevents future crimes,” he said.

While the spate of shootings — fatal and otherwise — shined a public spotlight on Dover in 2020, Chief Johnson said times have changed within the city.

“The reality of safety and perception of safety aren’t always in lockstep,” he said. “As the chief, I can report that you can feel better about the safety environment in Dover and the direction that we’re going.

“As a public safety leader, we always have to worry when crime comes around as it did. We ask ourselves did we do enough to prevent it and did we do enough to control it.

“Right now I think we have a good foundation towards a new kind of Dover. You can come to Dover, you can bring the family, you can have a wonderful time, and I think that’s only going to get better with time.”

When violent crimes spiked more than a year ago, Chief Johnson said there was no pressure coming from the community to do better.

“I have to applaud the community from the standpoint of they didn’t really come after us as if there was something wrong in how we were handling case investigations,” he said. “I think the reputation of the organization to be able to effectively solve crimes helped that.

“I didn’t feel the pressure and I don’t think it was because the community isn’t paying attention.

“The only thing I really have to stress sometimes is patience. Like anything else, it’s a ‘right now’ kind of world and sometimes justice can’t be done on a calendar ...”