Delaware marchers support Ferguson, NYC victims
More than 60 people marched to the Wilmington police station Thursday calling for changes in how police officers in Delaware are investigated in order to prevent outcomes similar to what occurred in Ferguson, Missouri.
Marchers, who were led by the Rev. Derrick "Pastor D" Johnson, want prosecutors from outside Delaware's Attorney General's Office assigned to investigations of police. This would help reduce the appearance of a conflict of interest.
"We have an identical situation with respect to prosecutors prosecuting police or investigating police when there is a claim," Johnson said. "We believe that a special prosecutor in every instance should be appointed and not the prosecutors who have to work with these folks every day because they are not going to be anxious to prosecute or get an indictment."
Under the current system, the Delaware Attorney General's Office reviews every police use of deadly force to determine whether charges should be filed. So in order for a case to be presented to a grand jury, that office would already have to have concluded that charges are warranted.
Prosecutors can decide at this point that an incident does not merit bringing charges and the case would be closed.
These reviews are conducted by special investigators who give their findings to the Attorney General's Chief of Staff, Tim Mullaney, who supervises them. The chief of staff would then review the findings and make a decision after consulting with the attorney general.
The special investigators have caseloads that do not require them to work closely with police officers, though there is some contact.
The office has the ability to appoint an outside special prosecutor, as it did in 2011 when it appointed Former Supreme Court Chief Justice E. Norman Veasey to investigate campaign financing fraud.
"Whether the attorney general would appoint a special prosecutor would depend on the specific facts and circumstances of the case," said Joe Rogalsky, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office.
The more distance there is between police and prosecutors during incidents where officers are being investigated, the better it is, said Jules Epstein, professor of law and director of the advocacy institute at Widener University School of Law.
"We all know on principal that that's a smarter thing," he said. "It's smarter, both in the appearance and the actuality of propriety. In other words, it's one less complicating factor in what's an already complicated thing."
During Thursday's three-block march, participants walked with their hands up. Occasionally, passing motorists honked their horns and held their hands out vehicle windows in support. Marchers also chanted "hands up, don't shoot" and "Stop, I can't breathe."
The first referring to alleged statements made by Michael Brown before being shot by a Ferguson police officer. The send chant referred to Eric Garner's comments as a Staten Island officer restrained him with a chokehold banned by the New York Police Department.
There have been ongoing vigils and rallies across the country since grand juries decided not to indict the officers involved Brown's and Garner's deaths. This included at the University of Delaware, where students and faculty members gathered in the Trabant University Center about noon.
During their "die in" protest, participants fell to the ground for 45 minutes with signs "hands up, don't shoot," "Justice for Mike Brown" and "Black Lives Matter."
At the Wilmington march, Johnson said this was not about the conduct of local officers, rather how the system works.
"More has to be done in Wilmington and across the country to build or rebuild trust between the police and our community," Johnson told marchers assembled outside the police station. "Trust is a necessary component of any relationship.
"If I can't trust you, I can't love you. Without trust, there is no love and we need to get to back to a place where we can love our police officers and they can love us."
Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.