DOVER, De. - In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Dover Police Chief Tom Johnson announced changes he would be making and steps the department would take to reform how officers police city streets.
One of those changes was the creation of a Chief's Advisory Committee, which is made up of nine community members to advise the chief and provide feedback on current procedures. Their first meeting, held last September 30, was the start of a dialogue that vice chair of the committee, Chandra Jackson-Short says has been successful.
"It's meeting my expectations. We are learning a lot about the police department, and I think that's a great place to start, because you know being in the community, working in the community, you hear a lot of stories. So recognizing and understanding that through that you only have one perspective, and being on the committee has afforded me the opportunity to see inside the police department and how things really work," explained Jackson-Short.
The committee, made up of community members with diverse backgrounds and experiences, and Chief Johnson says the group has progressed "beyond any expectation [he] could have had."
"I knew we had a good concept. I knew working with stakeholders, community members, in a combined effort to do just the best things that we could for the city of Dover and Dover policing; but then knowing that going in, to get the kind of results that we got, the kind of enthusiasm that we continue to enjoy. We ask the tough questions, I hear the tough responses," said Chief Johnson.
One place both Jackson-Short and Johnson say could use work is outreach to kids. That's something they hope to continue to tackle in the coming year. During it's first year, the committee devised a subcommittee for youth input, and one of the nine committee seats is actually held by a high school senior.
"To get this directly between our command staff, and the youth of Dover, so we can try and make sure we're conscious of their concerns, I'm looking forward to the potential of the youth subcommittee going forward," added Johnson.
"We have a young person on our committee, and then that person leads our youth sub committee. And so I'm really excited about being able to get the perspective of our young people, and hearing what they would like to see and what they would like to do. And so, being able to incorporate other people into this work is really crucial in order for us to be successful and for us to move forward," Jackson-Short explained, telling WBOC the youth subcommittee has already met a handful of times since it's creation.
Overall, Jackson-Short says she hopes to get the community more involved in the discussion as the committee continues to evolve and grow in it's second year.
"We had a meeting recently where we had some stakeholders from the community attend, and you know they were able to share some of their thoughts and concerns and where they think the committee should go and what we should focus on. And so it's important to know that we're really open to hearing those things and we want to work towards those same goals," she said.
The committee has nine seats on it, but the ninth seat is currently vacant. It's unclear who will eventually fill that seat.