Members of Delaware’s House Democratic Caucus, Black Legislative Caucus, and Senate Majority all issued statements seeking a thorough investigation of the officer-involved shooting of 19-year-old Kadir Skinner on June 24.
State and Wilmington agencies released the footage Thursday "as a matter of public interest." With the release, Delaware’s Dept. of Justice said its investigation continues.
The House Democratic Caucus statement called a timely and thorough investigation "essential" and it should "follow the evidence wherever it leads."
The footage comes from three different officers' body cameras, as they arrive at the northeast Wilmington neighborhood, including the officer who fired his gun at Skinner.
"Watching somebody's life come from their body on that video was tough," House Majority Leader Kerri Evelyn Harris (D-Dover) said.
The DOJ said it will publish a report with evidence and the officer’s identity when its investigation is finished. Legal representation for Skinner's family said Thursday that they plan to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit in the case.
Because the investigation is ongoing, Harris said there are still a lot of unknowns and, "to know that people within our state were going to be seeing (the footage) and not fully having an understanding of what led to it, worried me some. It hurt as well."
House majority leadership's statement also said Democrats will look into legislation that establishes a more consistent policy on the release of body camera footage in officer-involved shootings.
Delaware's Black Legislative Caucus leadership said Thursday after the footage was released that it "has long advocated" for policies that increase transparency of the state's justice system. But, "no one piece of legislation or even multiple" can respond to tragedies like Skinner's death.
According to Mapping Police Violence data from 2013 to 2026, the overall police killing rate is 2.6 per one million people in Delaware annually. But the rate is 5.6 per one million people for Delaware’s black population.
Harris is also a member of Delaware's Black Legislative Caucus, and said her caucus consistently looks at measures to increase diversity in Delaware’s police force and training to address bias.
"It's never going to feel like enough was done until there isn't that disparity," Harris said, but agreed that legislation alone can't address, "conscious and unconscious biases."
Harris supports providing mental health care to civilians and law enforcement who witnessed Skinner’s death, "because there is nothing natural with the taking of a life...and and that is something that all of us are going to be contending with here in our state."
