Mounted police to be deployed to downtown Wilmington
In a show of visible police force downtown, New Castle County Police’s mounted patrol will be deployed in downtown Wilmington around Rodney Square starting Friday.
The police officers on horses were requested by Wilmington Police Chief Bobby Cummings to show that the central square in Wilmington is safe for residents, visitors and workers, Cummings said.
“We just want to reassure people that, yes, the city is safe,” Cummings said. “And people like horses. Horses make people feel safe and comfortable.”
On Monday night, just after 9:30 p.m., a man was stabbed to death in Rodney Square, the heart of the central business district. The victim stepped in as another man with a large knife was chasing a woman pushing her child in a stroller.
Cummings said the effort is to try to reassure businesses and their employees that police are working to make the downtown more safe. Earlier this year, key leaders in the business community said the city had much work to do to ensure their employees felt safe downtown, or they would consider relocating.
“Right now we have a few of our businesses that are looking to re-evaluate their status in the city,” Cummings said. “So we wanted to provide some reassurance.”
Col. Elmer Setting, chief of the county police, agreed, saying if Cummings is looking for visibility there is no more visible officer than one mounted on a large horse. Setting said the mounted police will be patrolling for most of the day Friday.
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Setting will also be deploying the county’s mobile field force of uniformed officers into Wilmington, at the invitation of Cummings. Setting said he is happy to help Wilmington because the two forces are combating the same violence.
“The criminals don’t seem to pay attention to the jurisdictional boundaries, so why should we,” Setting said.
Wilmington has seen 91 shootings incidents, including 20 fatal shootings, since January. In 2014 there were 23 shooting deaths in Wilmington.
Cummings said he has requested the county’s assistance indefinitely, saying there was no end date for the deployment.
Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2837. Follow her on Twitter @JennaPizzi.