By Craig Anderson

DOVER — City police officers seized 198 illegal firearms in 2021.

But there’s no quantifying how many lives may have been saved or shootings averted, Dover Police Chief Thomas Johnson said last week.

Four homicides occurred in Dover last year, compared to nine in 2021. Dover saw 60 shootings in 2020 and 47 last year.

These positive trends were reflected in the police department’s annual report, released Monday and available here.

“I like the direction we’re going in regarding the loss of life,” Chief Johnson said. “I’m very, very happy with how that’s working and that’s really, at its core, a testament to the approach I think we’ve taken.

“We are, in the truest sense, accomplishing that with more than one particular policing unit. The patrol officers have been doing a great job getting firearms off the street; our specialty units — tasked with addressing our most violent offenders and the things that threaten public safety and the loss of life the most — have been targeting firearms and firearms-related violence,” he added.

“When you’re able to get guns off the street and people that are willing to use them in custody, you tend to see good outcomes later on. And ... I think that’s reflected in the data that we’ve seen trending recently here in Dover.”

Other serious crimes dropped, as well: Robberies fell from 26 in 2020 to 20 in 2021, and burglaries decreased from 62 to 44.

While officers seized $201,760 in drug proceeds last year and made “significant” seizures involving marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, prescription pills, heroin and methamphetamine, Chief Johnson sounded alarmed about the apparent resurgence of meth use.

“The drug situation continues to be an ever-evolving beast, and we’re trying to adapt and adjust our strategies to go along with what we’re seeing,” he said.

Banding together is an effective crime-fighting tool, Chief Johnson said.

“In addition to our citizens that are helping us and pointing us in the right direction, our public safety partners, particularly with the state police and the federal agencies in the area — our level of cooperation is something that I don’t think a lot of veteran officers have seen in a lifetime.

“So when you’re sharing information, you’re sharing resources, and you’re aligned in a common goal.”

However, the numbers weren’t all trending the right way: Sexual offense cases rose from 20 to 28 within the year, and assaults from 1,258 to 1,826. Juvenile assaults climbed from 49 to 66.

“Well, I’m not an expert, (but) when you listen to the folks that know a little something about human behavior, ... they talked about how socialization suffered during the pandemic, and that might be leading to why people are using their hands to solve problems rather than their voices,” he said. “(There’s nothing) specific that I can point to that’s a local influence.

“It’s my assessment right now that the assault issues are in line with the things that we’re seeing nationally. That’s the area where I think we have to keep our eye.”

Perusing through the annual report and reflecting back on last year, Dover City Councilman and Safety Advisory and Transportation Committee chair Ralph Taylor pointed to the importance of a downtown hub that is “vibrant, is safe, clean, welcoming, and it is inclusive,”

And to that end, he said, “I think one of the things that was happening was, you saw cadets’ activity downtown. You see a lot more officers on foot patrol. It’s very difficult for you to meet and greet people at 25 miles per hour in the car. Officers are out and about, and they’re walking the streets. I think that builds relationships, and that’s what business is all about.

“That’s what policing is about. It’s about relationships.”

Chief Johnson described the general public as being “on the team” when it comes to fighting crime within the capital city.

“As long as we keep hearing from them — and all the ways that we hear from them, phone calls, emails, other communications — that’s all information that we use, and information is one of the most powerful tools in policing,” he said.

Other notable portions of the report include:

• The Patrol Unit field-trained 14 officers, including 13 who graduated from the city’s Municipal Police Academy. A certified officer transferred from Roswell, New Mexico, as well.
• The agency utilized two explosive-detecting K-9s. Two new dogs, as well as two new police vehicles, are scheduled to arrive in 2022.
• The department’s Community Policing Unit increased from five officers to 10. “With the increased staffing, the Unit was able to re-establish or improve its relationship with most all of our stakeholder groups that includes our many neighborhood watch organizations, civic associations, and property managers, to better engage in community issues,” the report said. “These issues are wide-ranging and might involve homelessness, public alcohol consumption, persistent loitering, public urination or perhaps proactive traffic enforcement in Dover’s residential areas.”
• Five school resource officers staffed Dover High School, Central and William Henry middle schools, Kent County Secondary Intensive Learning Center and Parkway Academy.
• Patrolman First Class Dale Starke was named Officer of the Year, and Records Unit clerk Emily Waldridge was named Civilian of the Year.

Looking further, Chief Johnson said he expects officers to begin donning body-worn cameras sometime this summer. The initiative is funded by $140,000 from the federal government and $50,000 through the state.

“We have the equipment, and we’re actively training,” he said. “We’re reviewing policy. We’re talking to our solicitor. We’re talking to our insurance carrier. We’re ... monitoring the progress of the statewide regulations on their use.”