With mistrust of police and racial tensions on the rise in Dover, city and local NAACP officials are trying something different.
Dover police and downtown residents came together Thursday night, taking over a vacant lot downtown on South New Street for some basketball and block party.
The event was a joint effort by the Central Delaware NAACP and the city to ease rising tensions in the wake of of police-involved shootings and brutality allegations around the country and in Dover - including incidents like August's police-involved shooting that injured a black man nearby.
Dover Police captain Lee Spicer acknowledges they can't change every adult's mind, but says that's not the only audience they're trying to reach. The city hopes it'll show Dover youth that cops are part of the community too.
"I hope this is the start of a relationship that's going to last many years. The young kids here, hopefully they see police in a good light, instead of a negative contact with us all the time," said Spicer. "So we're hoping that this lasts for many, many more years and we make some good friends."
And kids like 17-year-old Kairi Buie, whose team beat the cops in the first round, say events like this are good for the neighborhood, too:
"It changes a lot, it changes a lot," said Buie. "'Cause it lets kids know that they can play without having any violence around."
Officials say Thursday night's event is just the first of a series planned community outreach events.
Check back for more on this story on Friday.
