The relationship between Wilmington police and some city residents seems more frayed than ever in wake of a recent police-involved shooting of a wheelchair bound man. Delaware Public Media’s Anne Hoffman moderates a roundtable discussion exploring what can be done to remedy the situation.
Late last month, a man named Jeremy McDole was shot by police in Wilmington. McDole was in a wheelchair, and police say he was armed with a gun and had already shot himself. But many people in the community questioned why police would shoot a man in a wheelchair.
Just a few days later, after another shooting in West Center City, between 300 and 400 people poured into the streets and began pushing police, with some even throwing rocks and bottles.
In an article in the News Journal, reporter Jessica Reyes explains that some residents in Wilmington feel their relationship with police is rapidly deteriorating and perhaps at a boiling point. She says these tensions have been building for a long time, according to residents.
"They said that it was situations where they felt like they were disrespected by police officers during traffic stops or while they were sitting in front of their homes, said Reyes."
She added that the low homicide closure rate was also frustrating for residents who’ve been touched by gun violence.
Reverend Doctor Donald Morton, one of the authors of The Complexities of Color agenda, which offered ideas for mitigating the effects of discrimination, adds that residents he's talked to feel there is a lack of community policing in their neighborhoods.
"That even though it is something that is supposed to take place, it is not taking place, and so there is a disconnect between what ought to be and what is happening on the ground," said Morton.
Reyes and Morton were part of a panel moderated by Delaware Public Media’s Anne Hoffman that discussed about police-community relations in Wilmington. Herman Holloway, a member of the Community Advisory Board of the Wilmington Police, was also a guest.
