Just Fix Them

Seriously, stop the high school hallway belligerence and just fix Wilmington’s cameras.

Today, Mayor Dennis Williams and Councilman Mike Brown decided to have an argument via WDEL about the amount of money spent on the city’s cameras currently monitored (in theory) by Downtown Visions. The Mayor says that Councilman’s Brown’s figure on the amount of money spent on the cameras is wrong and Brown provides some detail showing that the number he gave was rounded, but not far off from right. Both of them highlight a few of the City’s key problems in dealing with its safety issues:

1. The Mayor isn’t interested in talking to the folks he shares the task of governing with. In fact, he isn’t much interested in talking to anyone outside of his group of Yes Men (Have you seen the Where’s Williams page on Facebook?). So instead of appearing to talk about how the City is proactively going to better manage the cameras, or (even better) discuss in detail how his Administration would implement the recommendations of the Wilmington Public Safety Strategies Commission report, he appears to tell the media that Mike Brown got a number wrong.
2. The clear priority of the Mayor is in making sure that he isn’t made to look bad by these numbers. Even his clarification could not accomplish that – considering that many cameras do not work (at least when needed) and many folks report that they can’t get footage from the cameras unless their damage reaches a certain thresh hold, that horse has very much left the barn. The shootings of two women last week in full view of a camera that does not work (an shootings of others in full view of cameras that do not work) make it plain that cameras as a functioning tool for public safety isn’t a very high priority for this Administration. Which certainly isn’t helping his reputation as a crime fighter here.
3.  City Council President Theo Gregory and Councilman Mike Brown showed up at the scene of the shootings the next day (with NJ cameras conveniently in place) and Mike Brown finds a bullet casing in a window well. Just think about that – a bullet casing right where there was supposed to be a shooting investigation the evening before. Of course, no one knows if that casing is part of that shooting, but there doesn’t appear to be a response by the WPD that day to a Shotspotter event either.
4. The Mayor has $460K in “unemcumbered” funds? This is a result of the bamboozling tax increase from last year. This $460K ought to be in play (along with about 600K from the state) to get these cameras supervised by the WPD, upgraded as needed and made the first building block of a WPD Data Center – all recommended by the Commission’s report. Remember that Williams found this money when he starts telling people how much money he needs to get the report implemented. He has that money. He just has to be pushed into doing the right thing.

This started with shootings last week of two women who were shot a few blocks away from my home in Quaker Hill (West Center City) – one of them died of her wounds. This makes 4 shootings (3 deaths) since Easter within about a 4 block radius of my house. I didn’t know the young woman who died, but I saw her around enough to have exchanged smiles and waves with her. The City’s Administration insists that Operation Disrupt is working, but since Easter, you can’t see that in West Center City.

Want to know what else isn’t working? The City’s Administration who is busily trying to ignore the Wilmington Public Safety Strategies Commission report and recommendations. (Full Disclosure: I am a member of this Commission.) Mayor Williams came into office telling everyone that he had a plan to reduce crime and reform the police department and he clearly didn’t. Now that a plan has been handed to him, he wants to double down on the not-working status quo. The status quo that still can’t get ahead of the issues, much less begin addressing some of the long term problems in the city’s hot spots. If you see the report, there is an analysis of crime data that shows that 7th and Washington is one of the city’s worst spots and the effects of the activity there ripple throughout WCC and Downtown. And no one in the city can be bothered to address this. 7th and Washington has a camera, too. You’d think that one hotspot that supplies trouble to Downtown and WCC would garner some attention from the City. It doesn’t, except on a hit and miss basis. It needs a long term project to identify why so much crime is comfortable there and to formulate a plan for eliminating that comfort factor. That’s not going to happen, of course, because Mayor Williams doesn’t see anything wrong with a completely reactive police force.

Here is what else isn’t working – Wilmington’s City Council. Budget hearings are over (or just about) and this Council looks poised to endorse Business As Usual across the board. Never mind that business as usual from the Williams Administration has been a carnival of incompetence. Instead of working at being a partner in governing, too many members of this Council provide us photo ops at crime scenes, some specifically staged for Facebook. (And these FB pictures often tag Councilpeople who are NEVER out in the community, as if to create the illusion that these folks are actually supportive of that event.) The Facebook posts are filled with sorrow and promises of healing but none of these City Councilpeople in their photo ops can talk about a plan to get these cameras in working order and ready to be accessed. None of these City Councilpeople (except for one, I think) look like they will step up to push for what their constituents are asking for – implementation of the Commission’s report so that they can get the 21st century policing they deserve. Forget about having any political courage – this Council seems to think that their (there might be a couple I’d exempt from this, but they could use a governing majority to get work done) job consists only of constituent service in a city that badly needs serious governing expertise.

I’m going to add on one more thing that made me mad last week – Council President Theo Gregory’s multiple care accidents with his City vehicle. It made me mad because: 1) I can’t figure out why a part-time city employee needs a city car and 2) because we are paying more in making sure that Gregory has a vehicle AND in paying off his litigants than it would take to get those cameras in good working order. Priorities, people. Priorities.

And Public Safety ain’t one of them.