Fred Neil is the president of Dover City Council.
Those of us who have been elected to create the best possible environment for citizens to live and prosper in our cities find ourselves in an impossible position, thanks to the Delaware Department of Justice enabling individuals who can no longer make rational decisions with their lives commit illegal act after illegal act. The woman with the blindfold, holding the scales of justice, does not see that our hands are tied, as these individuals trespass, destroy vacant buildings, commit burglaries, commit sex acts in public view and use our streets as toilets and trash cans.
Here are the basics: These are individuals who no longer have the capacity to rationalize on a short- or long-term basis because they are affected by addictions or mental illnesses. They need our compassion and help. When they refuse that help, and they are not held accountable for their actions affecting others, these irrational individuals keep doing the same things. For cities, this is like damage by a thousand pinpricks.
I started my career as a professional newsman, an observer who looks at everything. I witnessed a niece, who served as a state’s attorney for a Maryland county, get injured in an auto collision, become hooked on prescription narcotics and die of an overdose. She left a grieving husband and son. I worked over 20 years in vocational rehabilitation, watching individuals with disabilities develop the skills to enter the competitive workforce. These included people with mental illnesses, who could function and learn when they took their medications. Many reached a point when they thought they no longer needed their meds. Their worlds crashed around them.
Though the Department of Justice did not ask for additional prosecutors last January, it claims that it does not have enough to handle all cases. Thus, whoever gets prosecuted is based on a scale. Our police can arrest, but the revolving door of justice becomes a pass-through. There are no consequences for the damage done to others.
The evidence
The legal system has a curtain over its activities, keeping them away from the view of the public until trial. Dover police, at the direction of Mayor Robin Christiansen, launched a “Quality of Life Initiative.” A six-page summary report, from Nov. 5, 2024, to May 8, 2025, has been posted on the city of Dover website. The detailed appendix is also available upon request. A Behavioral Health Unit for the Dover Police Department was created by Chief Thomas Johnson.
In this concerted effort to provide the help needed to “at-risk” offenders, the BHU linked up with a number of providers for voluntary care and treatment. In one very notable case, Dover police brought a group of prostitutes to a neutral site, where they were offered social services to help them escape their lifestyles. Knowing they were not going to be prosecuted, they walked away.
That is only a tiny glimpse of when help was offered that was turned down by people who no longer can make rational decisions and who are not held accountable for their actions. This brings us to what we can do about it. One thing the Dover police Quality of Life Initiative discovered was that there are simply not enough detox centers for addicts. I believe the committee the mayor appointed on the disposition of the funds from the opioid settlement (headed by Councilman Roy Sudler) is looking to add detox facilities.
Where can we go from here?
The creation of detox centers is a must. Chief Johnson also brought up the law that permits involuntary commitment (not incarceration) of individuals with mental health conditions under specific legal criteria, primarily governed by Title 16, Chapter 50 of Delaware Code. Amendments should be added to Title 16, Chapter 22, to include addiction and co-occurring disorders as qualifying conditions for commitment. Another amendment recommended for Title 16 is to permit treatment of substance use disorder aligning with Pennsylvania’s Senate Bill 716 model. It needs to be used along with whatever new companionate facilities are necessary.
The taxpayers in our city pay a high price for the failure of the attorney general to take the measures, as elected officials cannot require these individuals, who are unable to help themselves and refuse help, to do so when offered. These same taxpayers will still have to pay for the treatment centers to help these offenders. The difference will be the absence of the problems plaguing the streets in our cities. And there is the bonus that some — hopefully, many — will return as constructive members of our society.
Statewide, everyone benefits if we change the status quo. Our Delaware state legislators, the governor, our judges and the attorney general need to know that the current form of “no consequences” is unacceptable.
It is not too soon to call, email and write to request action, as the new legislative session starts in January 2026.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
