The state attorney general’s office is holding meetings to solicit public opinion on the new Wilmington Police foot patrol project.
The meetings are being held this Wednesday April 8th at the Hicks Anderson Community Center in West Center City and St. Paul Church in Southbridge - two specific, high-crime areas where the patrols have been assigned over the last month.
Attorney General Matt Denn said that engagement with the community is part of the agreement that got the the additional patrols funded. The goal is to give residents a chance to provide feedback on the impact those patrols are having and suggestions for improvement.
“And also it’s consistent with part of the overall mission of these foot patrols, which is to establish closer ties and lines of communication with some of these harder-hit communities.”
Denn says he’s been out with those patrols several times and the public reaction has been generally favorable to their presence.
“These officers are going specifically to neighborhoods where there has been a lot of violence over the past several months. And if you’re living in one of those neighborhoods and all of a sudden you’ve got multiple police officers walking the beat on foot, that’s something that they’re happy to see.”
Funding of the additional patrols is temporary though as grants from the Neighborhood Building Block Fund are expected to pay for the patrols only through the summer.
However, Denn says a plan to continue the patrols beyond that with money from a lawsuit settlement with Bank of America and CitiGroup has received some support from lawmakers and political leaders.
