Watch program stepped up in area of Moores Lake

Delaware State News

DOVER — After items were stolen from Gail Buckler’s garage in a night-time burglary last October, she did not merely get mad.

She got her development, Fairfield Farms, organized.

More than 80 people gathered in her driveway, she recalled Tuesday, and from that meeting a crime-watch program began. Residents patrolled their streets, made key contacts at the state police troop near Woodside and learned from similar neighborhood groups elsewhere in Kent County.

Before long, burglaries at the 200-plus homes in Fairfield Farms ceased.

"We have people we can call on at any time to walk (patrol) for us," Ms. Buckler said.

Alas, early this year, patrols became less frequent.

"Everything was going along great," said Ms. Buckler’s neighbor Roger Hollopeter, who was instrumental in starting the program. "We got complacent."

And last week their neighborhood and a few others in the Moores Lake area got hit again.

Residents awoke Friday to find unlocked garage doors had led to a rash of thefts from cars and houses — mostly of electronic goods such as iPods, DVD players and digital cameras, according to state police spokesman Sgt. Joshua Bushweller. Seven residential burglaries were reported that night, and a number of cars parked outdoors were broken into, he said.

Those were not the only such crimes to occur south of Dover in recent days.

Camden police said 10 house burglaries were reported in their jurisdiction May 9 and Sgt. Bushweller said three near Moores Lake were reported to state police May 12.

Calls to Camden police were referred to Sgt. Gary Melvin, who could not be reached for comment.

Sgt. Bushweller said state police have not developed specific suspects. But he offered a tip for helping catch whoever is responsible for the offenses: Call 911 when a suspicious person or vehicle is spotted.

"Often, these cases are solved by someone who reports seeing someone sitting down in the cul de sac or driving around with their lights off," he said.

Anyone with tips on the recent cases can call state police at 697-4455 or Crimestoppers at 800-TIP-3333.

Ms. Buckler has some no-nonsense advice on how to thwart theft: Lock garages, lock doors, lock windows, lock motor vehicles, leave nothing visible in vehicles parked outdoors.

And turn on the lights.

She urges homeowners to keep all their outside lights burning at night — at least for a few more months.

By autumn, street lights are to be installed in Fairfield Farms and on Candelwicke Road and South Shore Drive. Kent County Levy Court unanimously approved the project last week — two nights before the latest burglaries — after residents overwhelmingly voiced support for it in a public hearing.

Ms. Buckler and Mr. Hollopeter credit Sen. Colin Bonini, R-Dover, with pushing for the state funding that will pay for the installation, and they say Fairfield Farms resident Herb Konowitz did much to get the project from the talking stage to the point where the state and the county would back it.

But even Mr. Konowitz let his guard down Thursday night.

"I went to bed and left my garage doors open, which I never do," he said. The next day he found a portable Global Positioning System had been stolen from his car, and the console of his wife’s car had been torn apart.

"They’re getting a bit ruthless," he said of the culprit or culprits. "It’s a mess. It’s very scary."

Ms. Buckler knows what he means.

"Once you have been (victimized), you never feel safe again," she said.

The neighborhood patrols have intensified. At any hour, a resident may be on the street and on the lookout, often attired in a bright yellow vest that is meant to announce Fairfield Farms is being guarded. Sometimes the vest is worn over a running shirt; a few members of the patrol combine guard duty with their daily exercise.

And if they are like Mr. Hollopeter, they may be doing more than merely observing.

"I had to wake four people up the other night," he said, "to get them to close their garage doors."

Police get high marks in solving major offenses

Delaware State News

DOVER — Commit a serious crime in Dover, and there is a better-than-average chance you will get caught.

A new report indicates city police are likely to have exceeded — by far — national standards for clearing serious crimes in 2008. That goes for violent offenses such as rape, as well as property crimes, including theft.

Compared with police in other cities with populations of at least 25,000 but fewer than 50,000, Dover officers were more than twice as likely in 2007 to have resolved cases of rape, robbery and theft. Unless the other communities improved dramatically, the same almost certainly was true last year, as well. National crime-clearance rates for 2008 have yet to be published, but Dover’s rates are available and they are generally even higher than those for the year before.

Statistics can mislead. One suspect committing a string of break-ins, for instance, can send a small town’s burglary rate soaring. But a specialist in crime numbers said Dover’s success appears to be the real thing.

"I would say those clearance rates in Dover are legitimate," said John P. O’Connell Jr., director of the Delaware Statistical Analysis Center, which gathers police data from throughout the state. He praised Dover police as "well-funded, well-managed."

Dover Police Chief Jeffrey Horvath will formally present a detailed report on his agency’s 2008 activities during a Monday meeting of City Council, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at City Hall. He declined to discuss the report before addressing the council. But the public can read the document online at cityofdover.com as part of the meeting agenda.

In a letter accompanying the report, Chief Horvath declared, "The Dover Police Department’s criminal investigation unit has distinguished itself as being one of the finest units in the nation in my opinion."

An expert on police work said Dover’s crime-clearance rate is remarkable partly because it has been achieved in a community whose population is rather transient, due to the presence of a military base and two four-year colleges.

"Every community has its issues" that affect police work, said Dr. Tod W. Burke, a former Maryland police officer who is a professor of criminal justice at Radford University in Virginia. "Dover seems to have figured it out."

Solving crimes, however, isn’t the same as preventing them

Despite the high clearance rate on burglary, that crime became more prevalent last year and may escalate again, Chief Horvath said in his letter.

"Burglaries for the city of Dover in 2008 were up 68 percent," he wrote. "I believe this is a sign of the tough economic time our nation is facing and would not be surprised to see it further increase in 2009."

Reported burglaries rose from 116 in 2007 to 195 in 2008. Other theft-related complaints also were more numerous. Robberies jumped from 70 to 94. Shoplifting cases increased from 599 to 641.

Homicides increased from one to four. But the 2008 totals for sex offenses (44) and kidnapping (28) were nearly identical to those of 2007.

Reported drug offenses declined from 753 to 696.

Traffic arrests and motor vehicle collisions also fell in 2008, a year in which gasoline prices hit record levels.

Crashes declined from 2,137 to 2,003; driving-under-the-influence arrests, from 207 to 184; speeding charges, from 4,789 to 4,103.

Perhaps a change in drivers’ habits was portrayed best by the cameras in Dover that capture red-light violations at five locations on U.S. 13 and one on Governors Avenue. While 16,670 motorists were filmed running those lights in 2007, only 12,224 were detected in 2008 — a dip of 26 percent.

Says panel’s proposals easier said than done

Delaware State News

DOVER — City Police Chief Jeffrey Horvath said Thursday he agrees with a Dover commission’s suggestions that the community would benefit from increased use of foot patrols and a greater presence of minority members among his officers.

But paying for the patrols and attracting substantially more nonwhite job applicants may remain difficult, he cautioned.

He added that he had sought state funding for additional foot patrols several weeks before the Human Relations Commission recommended them Wednesday night as a means of combating violence and improving relations between police and the residents of Dover’s neighborhoods that are most prone to violent crime. The grant request is awaiting a decision by the Delaware Criminal Justice Council, the chief said.

Chief Horvath also said he would accommodate requests for police participation in more public meetings on crime, which the commission requested. Public testimony at such a meeting in October was a basis for the commission’s recommendations Wednesday.

Two grants, each for $15,000, are sought from the Delaware Criminal Justice Council, Chief Horvath said. One would pay for officers to walk the streets of Manchester Square and the downtown area. The other would provide similar service in Capitol Green.

Commission members said Wednesday that residents would be more likely to provide crime information to police if they had increased contact with rank-and-file officers. Foot patrols were touted as a way to increase cooperation.

The proposed state-funded patrols would last only until the grant money ran out. Chief Horvath agreed that making them permanent would be beneficial. "If we can find the funding for it, it would be great," he said.

There is no extra money in the police budget to provide permanent foot patrols without undermining other services, he said. And Mayor Carleton E. Carey Sr. said the current economic situation makes paying for them from other city sources "awful hard to do."

The commission’s call for more patrols will be part of a formal proposal to City Council.

The proposal also is to request a study of efforts to promote racial diversity in the police department.

According to department records, of the 91 current Dover officers, 11 are nonwhite. Nine of the 11 minority officers are black. Nonwhites make up 12 percent of the force.

The 2000 census listed 37 percent of the Dover population as black and 8 percent as "other," neither black nor white.

"I would love to have more minority officers," Chief Horvath said. "The cold, hard fact is that a very small percentage of our applicants are minorities."

Students at historically black Delaware State University are recruited, and black churches and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People are asked to encourage potential applicants, he said.

Attempts to increase female representation on the force also have been frustrating, he indicated. Only five women — four white and one black — serve as Dover officers.

Letter to council follows meeting on rash of violence

Delaware State News

DOVER — City police should increase their outreach to a public that is eager for a reduction in violence but wary of dealing with law-enforcement officials, members of the Dover Human Relations Commission said Wednesday night.

The recommendation will be among several the commission will submit in writing to Dover City Council for possible action, Commission Chairman Samuel B. Hoff said.

The proposed letter to the council stems from a commission meeting last month in which residents decried recent shootings and the availability of guns while noting reluctance to report crime because of fear of retribution by offenders.

The fear of criminals is compounded by a distant relationship between officers and residents, including a black population that is underrepresented on the city police force, commissioners said.

Commissioners suggested greater reliance on foot patrols and bicycle patrols to put officers in closer touch with the community.

No formal vote was taken on the suggestions, but few objections were raised.

While agreeing that more community meetings like the one in October are needed, the commission was split on who should initiate them.

Commissioner Gregory Bunkley said officers should be invited by groups trusted by the public, such as the NAACP, because residents would feel more comfortable in meetings run by people they know. But his colleague, Roy Sudler Jr., said police would seem more serious about outreach if they hosted the meetings themselves.

"They need to put forth the effort to step forward," Mr. Sudler said.

The police department was not represented at the Wednesday meeting, although Lt. James Hosfelt attended October’s meeting, where police were applauded.

Mr. Hoff called for the department to report on its attempts to increase diversity in its ranks.

"It’s not a race card," Mr. Sudler said of requests for diversity. Instead, he said, it is a matter of police being more effective if they resemble the community they serve.

Commissioner Saundra Sutton said good suggestions were made, but they didn’t answer the questions typical residents are asking, such as "Can I send my kids outside to play?"

While not disagreeing with calls for greater diversity, she emphasized, "What we need to do is work with (the police) we have."

Residents and police discuss unity, action

Delaware State News

DOVER — City residents on Wednesday night voiced their frustrations over violence in the community, saying youths and young adults have too much access to guns and too little meaningful guidance from older residents.

But they also suggested solutions, including greater cooperation with police, increased adult activism and expanded recreational opportunities.

The comments came in a forum conducted by the Dover Human Relations Commission, which will use them in formulating recommendations to City Council on combating violence.

"We came here, all of us, frustrated to some extent," but it is clear a number of individuals and groups are willing to help, Commissioner Ellen O. Wasfi said near the end of the session. "We have an awful lot of work to do and we all need to participate."

She called for the establishment of an information clearinghouse on organizations and programs that now often operate independently of one another, sometimes unaware of one another. The commission might provide such a clearinghouse, she said.

The forum comes in the wake of several shootings in recent months, including one on New Castle Avenue in September that took the life of Brandon L. Beard, of Dover. Three people have been arrested in that fatality, which police have blamed on bad blood between residents of the Capitol Green-Senate View area, where the incident occurred, and residents of the Capitol Park subdivision, located outside the city.

Dover Police Department Lt. James E. Hosfelt told the audience of some 60 people that the Beard killing is part of a trend in which crime in Dover has risen significantly since last year. Homicides, robberies, burglaries and drug arrests are more numerous, he said.

Solving crimes, he added, is hampered by public unwillingness to provide information to investigators.

"I’ll be very honest with you. We don’t get the cooperation we need," he said.

A resident said, "We’re so afraid in the neighborhood to say anything. We can see it happen and won’t say anything."

Police emphasized that tips can be provided anonymously.

The crowd applauded the city and state police on hand.

Dover resident Clay Hammond urged residents not to wait for government action. "The black community needs to step up here," he said. "Nobody should care more about our kids than we do."

Blacks made up most of the audience.

Mr. Hammond urged churches to use their buses to transport youths to activity centers and suggested historically black Delaware State University play a greater role in the community.

As an example of a need for better communication, some residents said much of the community remains unaware of extensive activities offered at the John W. Pitts Center, in Schutte Park. Dover recreation director Zachery C. Carter said 175 kids a day played basketball there during the summer, but others said the facility isn’t widely known.

The commission is to consider the comments made Wednesday at its next meeting, Nov. 19 at City Hall.

Last week, in the community of Royal Grant, a young man broke into a home. The suspect reportedly had a gun which he used to assault a senior citizen before taking money from this man’s wife. The incident alarmed the community, as a reverse 911 alert was sent to people to stay in their homes while the suspect was on the loose and being pursued by law enforcement. I think everyone in the immediate area was on edge. Our church is just across the street from Royal Grant; I was concerned about a man on the loose with a gun, hiding from law enforcement. You think: danger, keep your doors locked, keep a wary eye, what’s next?

But as the incident passed and a suspect was caught a few days later, others things of greater concern entered my mind. I thought about a young man, just 18 years old, accused of assaulting a 74-year-old senior citizen. I also thought about the fact that the young suspect was from the same community as this senior citizen who was assaulted. As a pastor, thinking about a young man hurting a senior, my mind went to the Bible and how older people should be treated: "Do not speak harshly to an older man, but speak to him as to a father" (I Tim. 5:1). As a pastor, thinking about a young man hurting someone within his own community, my mind went to the Bible and how we are commanded to "... love your neighbor as yourself." But as a father, I thought about how common decency calls for seniors to be respected and for neighbors to be treated as you would want to be treated yourself.

What has happened to our culture? Are we losing our sense of respect for those with gray hair? Are we walking away from the unwritten code that we have with our neighbors: "I’ve got your back"?

As a father and as a pastor, I do not want to sit and watch these foundational values of respect and love for others pass by the wayside. I want to do my part to teach the next generation and to influence others around me. Maybe we all felt a sigh of relief when the young man accused of assaulting a senior in his development was caught and the danger had passed. Maybe we all need to still be on alert. Maybe we ought to do everything in our power to preserve the common decency in our community and to recover the decency that has been lost.