The NEW New Wilmington Crime Plan
Today, at a press conference that the public heard about maybe an hour and a half before it occurred, the Mayor and Chief Cummings announced ONE MORE Crime plan for Wilmington. It seems that not many people know what is in this plan (even City Councilpeople Sherry Dorsey and Hanifa Shabazz who endorsed it all without seeing it), and although there was some rumor that the plan would be available to the public shortly after the press conference, this plan is not on the City’s website where the public can take a look or was it provided to the Governor or the WPSSC as a courtesy. So we have a press conference that was designed to exclude as many Wilmingtonians as possible, continuing the contempt this Mayor has for the citizens of Wilmington. But here is the gist of what is supposed to be on deck:
The plan calls for two new inspectors, a chief information officer, and a director of communications. Those positions will add $827,116 to the city’s operating budget, which would require city council approval. Currently, the Wilmington Police Department has a $54 million budget.
Williams said he’ll introduce an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2016 budget if that’s what it takes to get the funding for these positions.
They are adding more people and asking for almost $1M to do it. They’re expanding the Community Police Unit (while removing most of the current officers, including removing its highly-effective management), and that expansion is welcome. They say they are implementing 83% of the Commissions recommendations, and I don’t have access to this new plan that only a handful of people have seen, so I can’t say for certain what is going on here. And I hope that the local media will back check this. I can tell you that some key things are missing from what has been reported so far about this plan:
- A commitment to better use the taxpayer funds the WPD already gets. If they are asking City Council for money, that indicates to me that they are not planing to rein in overtime costs. If they were, then it would be those savings funding some of these positions. The WPSSC was very clear that the citizens of the City of Wilmington fund the WPD very well — with the possible of exception of salaries competitive with other PDs locally. Included here is the recommendation to manage for a minimum daily deployment — manage approvals for vacation and time off to ensure that you have the right number of officers on the street.
- How much more money do they need to support this new infrastructure? How many more hires, what additional equipment?
- A Deputy Chief. Instead of the Inspector for Strategic Planning, just go ahead and hire a Deputy Chief.
- Where’s the accountability? Go back to my comments on overtime.
- The Community Stabilization Unit to deal with hotspots? Where is that? Or the data analysis piece?
I could do this all night. But let’s remember the main themes of the WPSSC report:
- The WPD is well-funded, but mismanages its resources.
- The WPD management does not manage the department for results or accountability.
- The WPD is well behind the current best practices of policing — needing to expand community policing, needing to implement a number of best practices, and needing to formulate an intelligence and data-led police force.
I can’t tell if they are planning to get to a better managed place from this rollout that focuses on who gets hired and how much money it needs. Accountability costs little, and the biggest two things that are needed are a Deputy Chief and the data center. But the fact that they need more money and aren’t going to get a better bang for the buck from better management of overtime is very, very worrying. Because the last time a Wilmington Police Chief asked for a large increase in resources, he used them to expand his empire — not to provide the level of community policing promised.
So if anyone actually sees this plan (it isn’t on the City’s website as of this writing), let me know. And let me point out the biggest misleading thing the Williams Administration did today — have you seen this press release? There’s a Chris Coons quote that is used inappropriately here — this quote was of Senator Coons discussing the City’s work with the VRN. Senator Coons was not asked to support the Mayor’s plan and nor did he see that plan. So not a very good job by the Williams Administration to try to give themselves some approval here. Misusing that quote was just sleazy.
h/t for the awesome photo to Gina DellaDonne.
Tags: Bamboozled!, City of Wilmington, Featured, Mayor Dennis Williams
I’m so glad I don’t work in Wilmington anymore.
Jim Baker didn’t have a clue what was going on in the neighborhoods, and he really didn’t seem to care.
DPW has a clue, but he doesn’t have a plan, and he’s completely full of shit.
Thank you, Cassandra. Anyone reach out to Chris Coons for his reaction?
I have no idea what the Mayor is doing. I’m not even sure he knows what he’s doing. Actually, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s in way over his head and is not qualified for the position he holds. It’s almost as if he’s happy with, or just doesn’t care about the crime problem.
Excellent blogging, Cassandra.
So they finally posted this Plan on the City’s website this AM. I won’t be able to look at this until after my work day is done, but look it over and tell me what you see.
I disagree about Baker. I think he at least knew how to appease middle class residents to some degree. I can’t say I ever felt neglected when he was Mayor, for me this is a brand new and very disconcerting feeling. I mean, in the less-struggling neighborhoods, really all we ever asked for is functioning services and no violence or property crime (not that such low expectations are not problematic in and of themselves). Now I feel assured of nothing! This sucks – boooo, Williams.
The Mayor should be replaced with an experenced Prison Wardon.
Words of wisdom from the halls of academia, or delusional rhetoric from a pampered professor?
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/opinion/contributors/2015/06/07/jobs-jail-answer-wilmington-violence/28661195/
Professor Yasser Arafat Payne might have had a point if the jobs he was talking about weren’t just hypothetical.
Professor Payne isn’t exactly pampered. I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t be important to get folks more fully employed. How can you object to that?
I also don’t mind that a more punitive punishment for young people involved with gun crime lost out. It won’t make a difference and I think that people are more interested in efforts that might really do something to reduce crime. Like improve the schools these kids are in, provide wrap-around services to their families so they have some chance to succeed, provide some afterschool activities that might keep them engaged.
“Professor Payne isn’t exactly pampered.”
Yeah, it’s probably unfair for me to assume he is pampered since I don’t know the guy, but I’m sort of just generalizing plus it rhymes, and of course full employment is beneficial, but the jobs have left the city.
As far as education goes. More and more money has been thrown into education over the years to “improve schools”, and the results have been diminishing steadily.
I think it is more important to just make sure the kids actually go to school and do the work even if, like myself, they might not want to go.
More and more money has been thrown into education over the years to “improve schools”,
Actually, that’s not true.
Actually, that’s not true.
A non-truth from FBH? I am shocked!
You guys are going to sit there and tell me that the amount of money spent per student per year in public schools hasn’t increased over the years? Some people just like spending money to solve problems regardless of the results it seems.
“As far as education goes. More and more money has been thrown into education over the years to “improve schools”, and the results have been diminishing steadily.”
The entire sentence isn’t accurate, but let’s deal with your second statement. What are you basing your “results” on? Not NAEP, so what exactly are you using to make the claim that “results have been diminishing steadily”? (Link please)
Does anybody really believe that the average public school student of today is more proficient academically than their 1960’s and 70’s counterparts? I would go as far as to wager that the average student of the 60’s and 70’s is probably more educated than the average TEACHER in today’s public schools.
BTW, I’m not including myself in that category. I hated school and my grades reflected it. I think I made the honor roll like one time, but when I hear what comes out of the mouths of some of these “honor students” of today, I can see why some people have bumper stickers that say “My dog is smarter than your honor student.”
Yes, I really believe today’s kids are more proficient in many ways. My children and their friends thrived in public schools. The problem with certain public schools is poverty and the loss of programs and non-equitable funding. If you’d like to discuss that, fine. Your blanket statements don’t hold water.
“in many ways” = They have computers. I’ll give you that one. I didn’t even know how to type before I bought my first computer. In fact, my communication skills regarding writing, before I started using computers, were pretty slim…….. ok, go ahead and say it.