The Plummer Community Corrections Center in Wilmington is set to close in March, but several Wilmington City Councilmembers want to see that decision walked back.
Wilmington City Councilmember Shané Darby called for a reversal of the state’s decision at a press conference outside Plummer Tuesday.
Plummer houses men sentenced to Level IV community corrections supervision, allowing residents to participate in a Work Release program.
Delaware’s Department of Correction announced it will send Plummer residents elsewhere, all to locations downstate.
City Councilmember Darby said the way forward is to keep residents close to their families.
“All the best practices, all of the national studies say for re-entry, for rehabilitation, you have to be close to home,” Darby said. “That is the best way for you to feel supported. A lot of times, these men are getting their food and their toiletries delivered by their family, by their grandmoms, by their moms, by their aunties.”
Plummer residents are largely Black and Brown men, and most will be sent to facilities in Smyrna or Georgetown. Some have already been moved.
Councilmember Coby Owens stood with Darby. He said no system is perfect, Plummer included. But he said it’s a step in the right direction.
“The people that matter the most are the people who have been through the program, the people who believe that their lives are back on track because of what they were able to get by being here and not just sitting in a jail cell,” Owens said. “And how they talk about that, it would be more difficult for them if they only had the monitoring system coming right out, and not having that kind of leeway.”
Living downstate away from family and in whiter areas puts residents in more precarious situations where recidivism is more likely, according to Darby.
“I think culture is big, right, and Sussex County is a lot more racist, more outwardly racist…” Darby said. “And I think in Wilmington – it's better here. It might not be perfect, but it's definitely better.”
Darby called for Gov. Matt Meyer to pause all transfers, return Wilmington residents to Plummer and tour the facility before allowing its closure. Darby sent a letter to Meyer Tuesday morning with signatures from seven other Councilmembers.
