Why does the Wilmington Police Department persist with Operation Safe Streets?

Editor's note: This is the first of three perspectives on policing in Delaware.

In October, the Delaware ACLU filed a federal class action lawsuit against the city of Wilmington asserting that the city's violence reduction unit, known as Operation Safe Streets, not only violates the Fourth and 14th Amendments but also engages in unconstitutional and racially biased policing practices. These practices include unwarranted traffic stops, searches and arrests.

While the ACLU suit is the first of its kind in Delaware, the concern about how violence reduction units operate, and the constitutionality of their practices extends far beyond the state's borders. It is a pressing issue that plagues police departments nationwide. But nowhere is this more disheartening than in Wilmington, where outdated policing methods have resurfaced following the departure of former Chief Robert Tracey. Tracey had been diligently working towards implementing data-driven reforms aligned with national best practices and constitutional efforts supported by the U.S. Department of Justice and policing experts.

As we examine the implications of the lawsuit and consequences of these antiquated practices, it is crucial that we address the urgent need for reform in our justice system. By doing so, we can strive towards a future where our communities are protected, and the rights and dignity of all individuals are upheld.

ACLU's federal lawsuit: Wilmington police regularly violate rights of Black people, suit claims

The Delaware difference

Initiated in June 1997 as a response to a surge in violence that baffled law enforcement leaders and elected officials, OSS mirrored similar programs being implemented in cities across the country. The program aimed to combat crime by adopting an aggressive policing approach targeting individuals at high risk of reoffending, specifically those on probation.

Unlike other initiatives, Delaware implemented a collaboration between sworn police and probation officers. Their joint efforts encompassed monitoring probationer conditions by conducting curfew checks and home inspections. Further, the program leveraged the ability to conduct warrantless searches of probationers to crack down on illegal activities that fueled violence, which the ACLU claims is abused by these officers.

Akin to stop-and-frisk, this strategy was implemented 20 years ago. But like many other professions, policing has evolved over time. Stop-and-frisk and excessively intrusive searches of probationers have been widely criticized, ranging from being perceived as biased at best to outright illegal at worst. And the thinking behind violence reduction or anti-crime squads has since changed due to the potential for unconstitutional and racially biased policing. Despite these concerns, Wilmington is standing firm.

The efficacy of OSS is also debatable. According to a 2007 application for funding obtained by the Delaware ACLU, the primary goals of the program were to reduce shootings by 30%, decrease violent crime by 5%, increase technical probation violations by 15% and raise compliance with probation conditions by 30%.

First, the practice of quota-based policing often poses challenges, which is why 26 states, including Virginia, Michigan and Nevada, and Washington, D.C., have outlawed it. Interestingly, just a few miles from Wilmington, police are prohibited from using quotas under Pennsylvania Law (71 Pa. Stat. 2001). Nevertheless, Delaware continues to incorporate these types of performance metrics into its program goals.

Moreover, nonviolent technical violations make a significant contribution to mass incarceration in the United States, despite lacking a correlation to violent crime. These encompass a wide range of rule infractions, such as failure to maintain a stable address resulting in homelessness, unemployment, curfew violations, substance consumption and missing appointments with probation officers. According to the Council of State Governments Justice Center, almost one in four individuals incarcerated in state prisons (as of 2017) are there for technical violations, resulting in a staggering cost of over $2.8 billion. This problem is particularly prevalent in Delaware. Based on an independent analysis of available Delaware Department of Corrections and Superior Court data, we estimate that approximately 1,000 inmates are currently in Delaware prisons for technical violations, with an annual cost to taxpayers of nearly $75 million. Unfortunately, Delaware does not publish probation compliance data; however, it should be noted that violation of probation filings have decreased statewide by 33% in the past 10 years. Yet this has not resulted in a reduction in reoffending, as Delaware's three-year reoffending rate remain consistently high at around 70%.

Though the number of murders in Wilmington has decreased, following a national trend, there has been a significant increase in shootings in Delaware since the inception of OSS. According to the Delaware Criminal Justice Council, a state agency responsible for funding, policy, and statistical analysis, there were 60 shooting victims in 2003. In 2022, that number rose to 106, marking a 43% increase. As of Oct. 29, there have been 98 shooting victims in the city this year. Wilmington's violent crime rate also remains alarmingly high. Last year, there were approximately 600 violent crime incidents. With a population just above 70,000, the violent crime rate was 222 times higher than the national average and 118 times higher than the nation's largest 100 cities.

While social scientists argue that it is challenging to prove that a single program or initiative directly impacts violent crime unless it is geographically restricted and no other interventions exist in that area, it is evident that OSS is not effectively reducing crime or violence in Wilmington.

Moreover, an independent analysis of OSS stops reveals a significant disproportionate targeting of African American individuals. Although data categorizing the race of individuals who commit violent crimes in Delaware is not readily available, it is important to note that the population of Wilmington is 56.7% Black. Additionally, 62% of individuals in jail or prison and 47% of probationers in Delaware are Black. However, of the traffic stops conducted by OSS in 2019 and 2020 that resulted in arrests, 95% of the individuals arrested were Black. These statistics alone intimate a concerning disparity in enforcement practices. It is also worth mentioning that OSS is not solely arresting individuals on probation. In 2003, only 18% of individuals arrested by OSS were on probation, a percentage that currently stands at around 20%.

In short, despite stated goals of reducing shootings and violent crime, OSS is falling short of expectations and is exhibiting a troubling trend of racial bias, thus exacerbating mass incarceration. This raises the question: what is their ultimate objective?

More perspective: Delaware police reforms are a step forward — but far from enough

The national perspective

In major American cities, we have witnessed the involvement of specialized units in scandals, with reports of unwarranted harassment, abuse and even tragic loss of life. While some cities are taking steps to reduce the presence of these units, others are reevaluating their strategies.

The NYPD's Street Crime Unit, infamous for the tragic shooting of unarmed Black student Amadou Diallo in 1999, was attributed to racial profiling and disbanded in 2002. Similarly, the anti-crime unit, which was involved in the Eric Garner incident and the stop-and-frisk practices deemed unconstitutional in 2013, was also deactivated. Recently, under the controversial decision of former NYPD captain and current Mayor Eric Adams, NYPD reintroduced an offshoot of “anti-crime” called neighborhood safety teams, consisting of officers in highly visible uniforms patrolling the city’s most violent neighborhoods. While the effectiveness of these teams remains uncertain, complaints against NYPD officers have reached unprecedented levels since the rebranding.

We have seen similar units broken up in police departments in Memphis, Los Angeles and Baltimore.

Specialized police units in major American cities face an ongoing challenge in striking a balance between reducing crime and upholding civil liberties and community trust. While some argue that the units themselves are not the issue, but rather the officers assigned to them and the lack of supervision, successful implementation in the U.S. remains elusive. In fact, evidence suggests that these units, while occasionally achieving short-term goals, often contribute to long-term problems such as racial profiling, unwarranted harassment and corruption, ultimately undermining their intended objectives. If these programs continue, it is critical that they undergo rigorous scrutiny and reform to ensure that law enforcement efforts are effective, unbiased and truly serve the interests of all community members.

Why is Wilmington persisting with OSS?

In closing, despite the apparent failure in achieving its goals, Wilmington persists in maintaining OSS while other notable agencies are abandoning similar programs. This prompts our questions once again: What is the purpose of OSS and why does Wilmington continue to sustain it?

In the second part of this series, we will explore how various cities have dealt with DOJ investigations into law enforcement, police consent decrees and patterns of practice lawsuits. We will also examine the implications of these experiences for policing in Delaware. Stay tuned for an insightful analysis of the intersection between law enforcement accountability and efforts aimed at improving public trust.

Carmen Facciolo is a former Delaware, New York City and Maryland law enforcement executive. He is a national criminal justice policy expert, and served in both the U.S. Department of Justice and the administration of former President Barack Obama.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Wilmington Police Operation Safe Streets: Why does it persist?