Editor’s note: The writer of this letter shared that City of Dover Councilman Brian E. Lewis suggested she “attend the next city council meeting and speak during the public comment section for the record.” The letter was sent to all council members. Ms. Paul was following up on concerns about a recent shooting.
Councilman Lewis, with all due respect, every single one of you seated here, councilmen and councilwomen alike, has a duty to speak on behalf of your constituents. You should all be actively concerned about the safety of the people you represent.
Instead, when constituents come to town hall to voice urgent concerns, this body attempts to silence them. You increase security because you feel threatened, yet you show little regard for the very real threats your constituents face every day. You push public comment further down the agenda, hoping to delay or avoid hearing us, while families are showing up here desperate, pleading for action.
Ask yourselves: How do you think these families feel?
Let’s be completely honest! The Mayor, the Chief, and this council are not treating this with urgency because it is Black and Brown communities being impacted. If this were happening elsewhere, the response would be immediate and aggressive. Instead, you are choosing to be reactive, not proactive.
Right now, Black and Brown parents are burying their children. At the same time, other parents are losing their children to the prison system for life. Either way, families are being destroyed and this body is failing to act with the urgency the situation demands.
This is not new. This issue has existed for years. It should have been addressed long before any revitalization project was ever prioritized. There is no excuse none for why the promised mobile substation has not been deployed. There is no excuse for why residents must come here and beg for basic safety and protection.
You have trained officers. You have an academy. Those resources exist right now. Pause the academy if necessary. Redirect the funding. Deploy those officers. Get the mobile substation on the streets. Implement a curfew. Take visible, immediate action to stabilize this city.
At this point, no one wants to hear excuses. Suspend the rules. Respond directly to what your constituents are telling you or call a special meeting and address this crisis head-on.
Because if you do not act, what you are telling the people of this city is simple: that you cannot keep them safe. And if that is the case, then higher authority including the Governor must step in to ensure public safety.
The Black and Brown community is being injured. The Black and Brown community is being killed. And there is still no urgency.
That urgency should not depend on the race of the victims.
That urgency should already be here. That urgency should be right now!
Chelle Paul
Divided We Fall of Delaware
