By Lee Williams And Adam Taylor, The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware)
In response to an increase in shootings, homicides and other street violence, Wilmington Police Chief Michael Szczerba announced Thursday the temporary redeployment of city police officers - mostly administrators and members of specialized units - to patrol the streets in high-crime areas.
The redeployment plan does not require these officers to walk a beat - a requirement sought by several City Council members and neighborhood residents.
There have been 95 shootings this year, approaching the 108 in 1996, the most the city has ever seen.
“When you have an upswing like this, you have to take a stand,” Szczerba said. “I have long been a proponent of a highly visible patrol force. That’s what it’s going to be.”
Szczerba declined to discuss specifics about the redeployment, or furnish a copy of the plan.
“I’m not going to reveal numbers or where we’ll be,” Szczerba said. “It’s short term, but we’re working on a long-term plan that would involve actual transfers.”
The new redeployment plan is similar to a plan that ran from mid-June to mid-September this year, Szczerba said.
During those four months, Wilmington had 14 shootings.
Under the summer plan, 12 officers assigned to plain clothes, the detective division, the drug squad and other units were sent to the patrol division.
“It really stretches the resources, and you have a burnout factor,” Szczerba said. “It’s a challenge to maintain such a plan.”
Public Safety Director James Mosley, like Szczerba, would not discuss specifics.
“I’m not going to tell you what the plan is,” Mosley said. “I can assure you that every department, including plain clothes and administrative positions, will be in uniform and on the street.”
Mosley would not disclose the timetable of the redeployment.
“We’re going to do this as long as we need to do this,” Mosley said. “You may see it for two weeks and come back for four weeks.”
In a written statement, Mayor James Baker said the redeployment is the first step in a plan to stem the violence. The mayor said he would elaborate on the plan soon.
Szczerba told members of the council earlier this week that he would soon shift officers around, characterizing the moves as “tweaking.”
Council President Ted Blunt said at Thursday night’s council meeting that tweaking wasn’t enough.
Council Chief of Staff Lynne Howard said Blunt had not seen the specifics of Szczerba’s plan before the meeting began.
“The situation that we find ourselves in today is untenable, and has risen to a level that requires much more than a tweaking of the current plan,” he said, reading a copy of a letter he delivered to Baker earlier in the day. “The current plan is not working. We know it and the citizens know it. We cannot continue on as a city at this pace without taking very serious and drastic measures to try to solve this problem.”
Blunt said that he wants to use a one-time $5 million grant from New Castle County that is earmarked for police cars to hire officers instead. He also wants outside experts to review all police operations.
Councilman Kevin F. Kelley Sr. said he agreed with Blunt’s suggestions, saying that the police department has not been receptive to suggestions from the council.
“Every other city department listens to us, but the police just won’t change the way they do things,” Kelley said.
Jackie Latson, whose 31-year-old son Hakim Crawford was shot and killed in the city in April, said the violence in the city is out of control.
“This is too much,” she said. “Before I leave this world, I would like to see a mayor and City Council who get upset at the first shooting.”