By Mike Finney

DOVER — Downtown business owners and residents gathered at City Hall on Tuesday to offer opinions on a proposal for a police substation in the Loockerman Street area to deter panhandling and other crimes.

The meeting got heated at times, with businesspeople insisting they cannot operate successfully without their customers’ confidence to safely visit, eat and dine.

On the other hand, several residents argued that a substation would only increase arrests among minorities, fueling a cycle of poverty. Some participants added that mental health issues need to be addressed, rather than police officers trying to arrest their way out of problems.

Following the nearly four-hour debate, members of Dover’s Safety Advisory and Transportation Committee voted 6-5 to table the substation issue until further information can be gathered about costs and the number of officers that may need to be added to the city’s payroll.

Recent problems in the downtown district include high crime rates, drug use, destruction of property, public urination and defecation, aggressive panhandling, fornicating outside and numerous other issues, according to police.

City Council President Roy Sudler Jr. and Councilmen David Anderson and Ralph Taylor — who all represent the downtown corridor — support the idea of developing a police substation in an existing building at 11 W. Loockerman St.

“I’ve been a police officer here. I’m a business owner here. I’m a councilman here. This is my life, and I have a lot of friends downtown,” Councilman Taylor said. “My whole goal is this: to make it safe, to make it clean, to make it welcoming and inclusive.

“How would I do that as a retired police officer? Heavier police presence is a deterrent. The police substation that I have presented here was an idea. It was one idea of several that we have heard, and we have to start somewhere. I believe that a police station and a heavier police presence will bring back the confidence of consumers and merchants, so that they can thrive again. The behavior (downtown) has to be changed. People are losing their businesses. The panhandling, the loitering, … it has to stop.”

While Dover Police Chief Thomas Johnson does not support the substation proposition, he said that, ultimately, the decision will be up to City Council.

The chief noted that he understands the criminal issues that are taking place routinely downtown, but he does not believe a bricks-and-mortar police substation is necessarily the answer.

“There’s no doubt that the Dover Police Department and the command staff absolutely understand the connectivity between not only the reality but the perception of safety and its impact on the business climate, and that, obviously, is a feeder into the larger success of the city,” Chief Johnson said.

“However, like I’ve said in the past about brick-and-mortar, fixed-position, mini police stations, they have limited utility for a lot of things that I believe we are trying to accomplish. The history that I’ve known shows that the problem moves just enough far away to be out of sight and sound of where that mini station is. Therefore, you sort of push the problem. You provide a brief respite before things change.”

Business owners encourage police presence

Tina Bradbury, director of the Downtown Dover Partnership, said that establishments in the area are satisfied that the DPD Community Policing Section has made a commitment to residents, businesses and property owners.

Though Chief Johnson said the section has not been able to be staffed sufficiently, Ms. Bradbury noted that Loockerman Street proprietors continue to value its presence, particularly during the daylight hours, saying, “There is a visible reduction in negative behavior when they are on-site.”

DDP officials say they are counting on experts to come up with a reasonable solution.

“The downtown is the heart of the community,” Ms. Bradbury said. “In light of the current discussions regarding a downtown police substation, we take this opportunity to voice desire for a consistent team of officers dedicated to downtown, including into the late-night hours.

“We continue to believe that the reality and, possibly more importantly, the perception of downtown safety must be further addressed in a visible and viable manner, such as through increased numbers of uniformed officers regularly in the commercial district. Whether in a substation, in vehicles or on foot — we leave it to the professional safety experts to determine which is most effective.”

A majority of the downtown businesspeople polled by DDP would welcome a heightened police presence; however, many didn’t believe a police substation is necessary, she added.

Michael Harrington Sr. owns numerous properties downtown. The longtime businessman and Dover resident said he has gotten discouraged lately about the future of the heart of the city.

“I can’t keep any tenants in the downtown area,” he said. “Constantly, on the top of 33 West — we have a number of offices there — and every time people come down next to that package store (on Bradford Street), they’re being accosted in one way or another.

“It’s funny how, I sign a lease with somebody, and I’ll take their deposit, and within 30 days, my phone rings, and they’re begging for me to let them out of their lease.”

Many downtown proprietors spoke out at Tuesday’s meeting, some with disturbing stories of situations they routinely see out their windows.

Sam Chick, who said he has been the victim of numerous crimes in the area, has owned the Puffster vape shop for five years and lives in the apartment above.

“I wish everybody in this room could see the things I see, the things I have experienced — it’s terrible,” he said. “First of all, downtown Dover can be a beautiful place, and if you don’t believe it, just look at other cities. They’ve revitalized. But we’ve got to fix the crime problem. It is the No. 1 problem.

“You look at a map of where the crime in Dover is and, boom, all downtown. So let’s get the resources there. Highly in favor of a dedicated police presence, and if it takes a substation, that will do it.”

City Councilman Fred Neil said Dover simply needs to get more eyes downtown and brightly light the area at night, which should help eliminate some of the issues.

“We have to build up people because people with people with people is a deterrent,” he said. “If you want to have that, we don’t need a desert, we need people, and the only way we’re going to (attract) them is to solve this tricky, tricky problem because that’s what has to happen.”

Community pushes back

Several members of the Dover community took to the podium following the business owners, and many accused members of City Council of being out of touch with their constituents.

Community activist Lachelle Paul told the committee that she was confused with the issue altogether, considering that council members had voted to support a mobile police substation June 22, 2021 — a move that has yet to see any action, she said.

“You’re attempting to spend constituents’ money before providing the mobile substation in the capacity in which it was promised,” she said. “The mobile substation was promised to combat crime during prime-time crime hours. It was promised to provide mental health outreach services. It was said to provide protection for both residents and the (DDP).

“Constituents’ safety from gang violence is of the (utmost) importance and takes priority over beggars/panhandling. An elderly person being shot or harmed or a person being aggravated because a person asked them for money, … which takes precedence?”

Further, Fleur McKendall, president of the Central Delaware NAACP branch, noted that the area the substation is proposed in is riddled with poverty, homelessness and people with mental and substance abuse disorders.

“It seems that we’re back here again, discussing another proposal without community input, without community conversation that will — unintended or not — criminalize the poor, homeless and people who have substance and mental health issues,” she said.

“We would like the council to present us with fact-based data to support how an additional police station just a few blocks away from the main station will address those issues. It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg.”

She added, “Utilizing police contact and enforcement rather than engaging the community to address the root causes of poverty and mental illness, in my opinion, is lazy.”

At the end of the discussion, Councilman Taylor dismissed claims that an increased police presence is a targeted racial or homeless issue.

“To me, the laws are not arbitrary,” he said. “They’re not based on color or your social-economic status. It makes it very difficult for a law enforcement officer to be able to do their job if you can’t arrest this person because they’re poor, or you can’t arrest this person because they’re not the same color as you. It makes absolutely no sense to me.”

Members of the Safety Advisory and Transportation Committee said they hope to find some common ground and more facts and figures about the substation before the proposal returns for discussion.

“I have a real passion for downtown Dover,” Mayor Robin Christiansen said. “Mike (Harrington) and I both grew up down there. Mike was a store owner, and I was a kid who frequented Loockerman Street in its heyday.

“It is the heart of our city, and if we don’t take care of the heart of our city and the people that live in the surrounding area, the rest of the city is going to go to hell, and it’s not going to happen on my watch, and I don’t believe under the watch of council.”