Why Should Delaware Care?
Since the passage of legislation in 2023 requiring all Delaware municipalities to create Police Accountability Boards, reform advocates have often criticized the boards as disorganized and lacking real authority. The New Castle County Council passed an ordinance that would transfer more power over its county police accountability board to the county executive, prompting questions from citizens.
The New Castle County Council passed an ordinance earlier this week taking more authority over appointments to the county’s Police Accountability Board away from community groups and giving it to County Executive Marcus Henry.
The move grants Henry the power to appoint the accountability board’s chair, replacing the previous system where the county executive had to ask for recommendations to fill the role from local nonprofit organizations.
The new ordinance also removes certain community representation requirements from the board, such as a civil rights group and a faith-based leader; mandates board members complete 20 hours of police officer-run training; and reduces the number annual board meetings from 10 to six.
County council members and representatives from Henry’s office are lauding the ordinance as a way of tightening up the accountability board to make it more effective, but police reform advocates are pointing to it as another example of the accountability boards across the state not functioning properly.
House Bill 205, passed in 2023, instituted a requirement for each local police department in Delaware to create its own Police Accountability Board to address citizen concerns and discuss potential reforms.
Most boards, like those of the cities of Wilmington and Dover, oversee their own municipal police departments. New Castle County is the only county-wide Police Accountability Board. It was established in July 2024 to preside over the county police department, which itself is directly overseen by the county’s Department of Public Safety.
In the nearly two and a half years since HB 205 was passed, police reform advocates have criticized some jurisdictions for not having functioning accountability boards, and others for having boards that only met once or twice over the years.
The New Castle County ordinance was introduced to the council’s Public Safety Committee at the request of Henry’s office in mid-January.
County Councilmen Kevin Caneco and Brandon Toole, the committee chairs, made it clear at multiple discussions of the ordinance that they were not involved in writing the proposal, but rather were simply introducing it to council at the direction of Henry’s office.
Still, Caneco said he supports the ordinance as a means of adjusting the board’s functions and providing some more flexibility to meeting times and appointments to the board.
“I think it actually kind of tightens up the language to make the accountability board a little more organized as we move forward,” Caneco told Spotlight Delaware.
The ordinance passed 12-1 on Feb. 2, with Councilman Jea P. Street casting the lone vote against the ordinance.
Street made his disapproval of the ordinance clear at the meeting, arguing that it goes against the “spirit and intention” of Police Accountability Boards. His comments come more than two years after the council engaged in a debate over the creation of the board.
At that time, Street – a longtime advocate for police reform – issued a warning to his colleagues: Either approve the advisory board, or “we’ll have to look to the courts to run the police department.”
County executive sought feedback
When New Castle County created its 13-member Police Accountability Board in 2023, it was hailed for being the first jurisdiction in the state to do so.
The county had endured the bruising public scrutiny in the officer-involved killing of Lymond Moses just two years earlier, which came in the wake of calls for reform initiated by the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers.
When then-New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer created the board, he said that, “County residents now have a seat at the table when it comes to law enforcement accountability.”
That approach has now been significantly altered.
Caneco and Toole also said at Tuesday’s meeting that they consulted with members of the Police Accountability Board before moving forward with the ordinance, and got written approval of the changes from Board Vice Chair Kevin Evans.
Natalie Criscenzo, a spokesperson for Henry’s office, wrote in a message to Spotlight Delaware that Henry met one-on-one with board members to hear their feedback before proposing the ordinance.
“While some of the proposed changes originated from the executive office, they were shared with board leadership for review,” Criscenzo wrote. “The intent is to support a more responsive, transparent, and community focused police accountability board.”
The move by Henry was foreshadowed in a sit-down interview with Spotlight Delaware last spring, when he said that he had “a different perspective” on oversight of police.
“I appreciate the work of the Police Accountability Board and other efforts, but I look at it like this: At the end of day, I’m responsible. I’m personally responsible for what happens with the conduct of the police department,” he said. “I appreciate the help of citizens groups and others, but I don’t need additional help in terms of the seriousness and the veracity in my reviews to make sure we’re doing the best we can.”
Caneco introduced an amendment to the ordinance on Tuesday night, requiring the accountability board to submit annual reports and recommendations to county leaders by April 1 of each year.
Discussion of the ordinance among council members focused on the specifics of Caneco’s amendment, and how often the accountability board should present its recommendations to the county council.
Street was the only council member to bring up the power over the accountability board that the ordinance would grant to Henry.
Advocates express concern
Citizens, however, expressed concern about the impact of the regulation on the board’s ability to function, and the power being stripped from community organizations to decide who represents them.
Chris Asay, a member of the League of Women Voters of Delaware who attends various Police Accountability Board meetings around the state, said the ordinance is disappointing for the integrity of boards in the First State.
“These changes further weaken the independence and diversity of the board,” Asay said, “making it a faux accountability board like most of the other police accountability committees.”
Tanya Whittle, a current member of the New Castle County Police Accountability Board, said she found it “disheartening” that both the county executive’s office and the county council supported an ordinance that she sees as undermining police accountability.
“It’s moving us away from the efforts we’ve made as far as really having community-led accountability boards,” she said.
Whittle’s term on the board is up this month. She told Spotlight Delaware she does not plan to seek another term because she has been “frustrated” by the county’s handling of the board.
Maggie Reynolds is a Report for America corps member and Spotlight Delaware reporter who covers rural communities in Delaware. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://spotlightdelaware.org/support/.
