CRIME

Sen. Colin Bonini: Why not combine police forces?

Cris Barrish, and Jonathan Starkey

Liberal Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr. has an unlikely ally for his proposal to create one upstate police force: conservative Republican and gubernatorial hopeful Sen. Colin Bonini.

Bonini said late Monday it's worth considering Strine's proposal, detailed in a Sunday News Journal article, to merge Wilmington, New Castle County and upstate state police into one northern Delaware force. Such an agency, he said, could help reduce the plague of violent crime in Wilmington, which he called "appalling."

A Dover lawmaker better known for criticizing policies by Democrats who control both houses of the General Assembly and the governor's office, Bonini applauded Strine for targeting "escalating crime" in Delaware's largest city.

"I agree 100 percent with Chief Justice Strine that we should consider combining police forces,'' Bonini said. "If we can create efficiencies and most importantly more safety by combining police forces and having one governmental system to oversee it, then we should absolutely be willing to look at it. The violence is unacceptable so all ideas should be on the table."

Words of support, however, are not enough to change the long-entrenched system of policing. Merging what the county police chief, Col. Elmer Setting, calls "the big three'' would need support by all three governments and approval by City Council, County Council and the Legislature.

No such proposal has been introduced in any of the lawmaking bodies, and Strine, while he's using his bully pulpit as chief judicial officer to generate discussion about the proposal, doesn't have the legislative power to make it happen.

Strine did not immediately respond Tuesday to Bonini's words of support.

The idea is opposed by Strine's fellow Democrats, Gov. Jack Markell and Mayor Dennis Williams, though Democratic County Executive Tom Gordon and his chief, Setting, said it has merit despite logistical difficulties in constructing a force that would have about 1,000 officers.

Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr. says three major police forces should join to combat crime in northern Delaware. However, Gov. Jack Markell and Wilmington’s mayor are against the idea.

Strine has countered that in a small state where political leaders often boast about how they cooperate to solve problems, government officials have an obligation to pool resources to protect the public. Criminals don't recognize government boundaries, and neither should crime fighters, the chief justice said.

The situation is dire, Strine said, with Delaware's largest city recently dubbed "Murder Town USA" by Newsweek magazine, and the DuPont Co., long its financial bedrock, moving its headquarters to the suburbs. Strine and other officials also worry that new DuPont spinoff Chemours, which plans to occupy the flagship building downtown, might only be a short-term tenant.

"We are one community," Strine said in an interview with The News Journal. "Anybody could look at Delaware and ask, 'Why would anybody set up the police structure the way it is?' "

He added: "You can't ignore the fact that if you want to have a whole lot of resources moving to where the map heats up," Strine said, "it's a lot easier when you have one police force."

Contact senior investigative reporter Cris Barrish at (302) 324-2785, cbarrish@delawareonline.com, on Facebook or Twitter @crisbarrish. Contact Jonathan Starkey at (302) 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com.