Wilmington has a new police chief: Wilfredo Campos, a person of color and a captain who has been with the department for 26 years. Campos, 50, grew up in Wilmington and will become the city’s 33rd police chief and the first person of Hispanic descent to be named to that post. He will be paid $200,000 and begin his job …
The number of murders in Wilmington was at its lowest for 15 years in 2022, and the number of shootings was the second lowest in 17 years, according to a new report issued by Delaware’s largest city. Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki and lame duck Chief of Police Robert J. Tracy on Tuesday released the Wilmington Police Department’s 2022 Year-End Crime …
The city of Wilmington is in need of a new top cop. Police Chief Robert Tracy has been selected as a finalist to become police commissioner in St. Louis, Missouri, he announced Monday night. Whether or not he gets the job, Tracy will leave the Wilmington Police Department, the mayor’s office confirmed Tuesday. It’s not clear when Tracy plans to …
Wilmington police officers will take weekly walks through the city to engage with residents and distribute information about social services, Mayor Mike Purzycki announced Wednesday. The initiative aims to address unmet social service and public health needs in Wilmington neighborhoods, according to the mayor. “Our police officers have demonstrated time and time again that if they have an opportunity, beyond …
The Wilmington Police Department is re-establishing its Police Cadet apprenticeship program. Open to young adults 18 to 21 years old, the initiative will give participants experience working directly with police officers and community members. The department last offered an apprenticeship program in the 1990s. “We are excited to re-start our department’s historic Police Cadet Program, with an eye towards …
A report on reducing and preventing gun violence in Wilmington recommends the city fund several existing intervention organizations. create a coordinator position to oversee those groups and create more programming. Organizations that wanted to provide programming must have street level relationships and already actively engage in intervention work, the report from The Community Based Public Safety Collective. Mayor Mike Purzycki …
The city of Wilmington and CityFest Inc. showed off their new Urban Artist Exchange and the work of its 21 teen summer apprentice artists at an open house last weekend. The event coincided with Wilmington Open Streets and featured storytelling as well as a drumming and dance performance at the nearby amphitheater. “Because we had a critical mass of people …
Delaware’s tall ship, the Kalmar Nyckel, sails to the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation Tuesday. Photo by Deborah Webb. The Kalmar Nyckel celebrated her 25th anniversary Tuesday with the crew sailing Delaware’s tall ship through the 4th Street drawbridge to its foundation’s shipyard, and then giving a two-cannon salute after the national anthem was played. About 200 people watched it sail …
This Week’s Top Headlines Include: Community Purzycki, FOP: Congo’s police shaming ‘baseless, abhorrent’ Wilmington council president goes public with WPD ‘whitest Black guy’ trophy Harlan Elementary’s Thursday night Bedtime Stories promote reading, community Halestorm, Hank Williams Jr. join 2022 State Fair concert lineup Longwood’s restored Orchid House will show even more blooms Business Renter, landlord advocates disagree over solutions to …
Gov. John Carney, left, and Dr. Mark Holodick, secretary of the Delaware Department of Education talk to the Brandywine School District board. The Brandywine School District board voted unanimously Monday night to join the Wilmington Learning Collaborative, following the lead of the Christina district. The Collaborative, a idea lobbied for by Gov. John Carney’s office and the Delaware …
