The Team’s violence intervention efforts have focused on the East Side and Prices Run communities of the City

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki and Dr. Debra Mason, Director of the City’s Community Public Safety Initiative (CPSI), today issued the latest update on the Wilmington Street Team (WST), an anti-violence program launched in June 2023 as part of the City’s Community Public Safety Initiative (CPSI), which began in 2022. Today’s report covers the program’s work from September 1 – December 31, 2023. You can review the report online here.
 
Street team members utilize the Community Violence Intervention (CVI) approach—an evidence-informed strategy to disrupt violence and retaliation cycles and establish community relationships—to decrease crime in Wilmington. The WST is composed of a group of non-profits actively involved in improving the overall well-being of Wilmington residents. The group includes the Center for Structural Equity (CFSE), the Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), and Network Connect (NC). CFSE and YAP handle “high-risk” interventions, working with individuals between the ages of 13 and 26 to decrease the likelihood they will engage in negative behaviors while Network Connect provides wrap-around services to individuals who are not deemed to be “high risk.” 
 
On June 8, 2023, Dr. Mason collected the first crime statistics for East Side and Prices Run—two areas of the City with the highest rate of crime at that time. Focusing all available resources on those communities, YAP took responsibility for Prices Run while CFSE was responsible for the East Side. The organizations were charged with responding to incidents, providing interventions, and conducting community engagement in their designated areas. As a result of their efforts, these two areas saw a decrease in crime by the end of 2023 – the only districts (District 11 and District 13) that ended the year with reduced total crime according to the Wilmington Police Department.
 
Highlights from the Wilmington Street Team’s report include: 

• WPD reported 91 dispatch calls to the WST coverage areas – Zones 1-8 – between September 1 and December 31, 2023; the highest number of calls was for Zone 6 (24), which was a nearly 7% decrease for the same zone from June through August.
• Of Wilmington’s 9 total police districts, District 11 (Zones 5-8) and District 13 (Zones -14) were the only two to see a decrease in crime in 2023, including decreases in all areas: shooting incidents, shooting victims, juvenile shooting incidents, juvenile shooting victims, and theft (misdemeanor).
• WST had a total number of 210 community encounters between September 1 and December 31, 2023– 79 in Zones 1-4, 83 in Zones 5-8, and 48 outside of Zones 1-8. These included agency referrals following a shooting, providing safe passage to schoolchildren, redirecting teens to prosocial activities, and providing Narcan to community members.
• WST has shown a direct correlation between an increase in community encounters and a decrease in the number of police dispatch calls.
• WST hosted 11 community events, hosted numerous community meetings, and provided services to more than 660 community members between September 1 and December 31, 2023. Events included a community cleanup, a clothing drive, a Thanksgiving dinner, and a Winter Festival, among others. 

Mayor Purzycki thanked Dr. Mason and praised the efforts of the Wilmington Street Team, continues to have a significant effect on the East Side and Prices Run neighborhoods. The Mayor also noted that most serious crime categories have decreased in Wilmington as the City continues to record some of its most encouraging crime reduction numbers in years. The Mayor credited the efforts of the Wilmington Police Department, the Community Public Safety Initiative, and residents throughout City neighborhoods who are working together to hold crime numbers down.

Paul Ford Jr.
Director of Communications 
City of Wilmington, Office of the Mayor
Mobile: (302) 530-2171
Email: plford@WilmingtonDE.gov