[0:21] What is that?

[0:26] What's that?

[0:27] » Yeah.

[0:27] » Okay.

[0:28] » Uh

[0:29] » 59

[0:31] » Welcome everyone. Um

[0:33] Uh

[0:35] I guess we'll start with our call to

[0:36] order and uh and attendance and roll

[0:38] call. Uh my name is Dan, Dan Zackem.

[0:43] » Oh, Dan DeSimone.

[0:46] » Present.

[0:47] » Chris White

[0:48] » Mary Good

[0:49] » Andrew Glassman

[0:50] » Kim Lacey

[0:52] » Uh good afternoon everyone.

[0:54] Um not aware of any announcements or

[0:57] other news other than

[0:59] uh our agenda items, but if anyone has

[1:01] anything they'd like to raise at the

[1:02] outset, feel free. Any announcements of

[1:04] any kind?

[1:06] No?

[1:07] Um

[1:08] if we could move on to just approval of

[1:10] our agenda, I'll make a motion that the

[1:11] agenda be approved.

[1:13] » Second.

[1:15] » All in favor?

[1:17] » I

[1:18] » The agenda is approved.

[1:20] Uh we have two sets of minutes

[1:22] um

[1:23] both from our, I believe, April 26th

[1:25] normal meeting and then our training

[1:27] session uh

[1:29] now at the ferry terminal.

[1:31] Uh with regard to each, uh I'll make a

[1:34] motion that the minutes for each uh be

[1:36] approved.

[1:40] » Motion to approve minutes.

[1:42] » Yes.

[1:43] » Okay.

[1:44] » I second.

[1:45] » All in favor?

[1:46] » I

[1:47] » They are um

[1:49] our minutes are approved.

[1:51] Um

[1:52] before we get into business, I just

[1:53] wanted

[1:54] to

[1:55] put a couple things on the record, if

[1:56] me. First, I want to thank

[1:58] uh

[1:59] my fellow committee members for taking

[2:01] time and fighting the traffic

[2:04] uh to come on down for this for this

[2:06] special meeting and take time out of

[2:07] your schedule. And also a special thanks

[2:09] to

[2:10] uh our law enforcement members for This

[2:13] is a busy time of year for you folks and

[2:15] and we understand that your time is

[2:16] valuable. So, thank you so much and

[2:18] especially a special thanks to Chief

[2:20] Banks and

[2:22] uh Lieutenant Sweet and and all of your

[2:24] staff for getting us the

[2:27] uh the room and the logistics set up and

[2:28] everything on pretty short notice. So,

[2:30] we appreciate that.

[2:31] I would also be remiss at the outset if

[2:33] I didn't

[2:34] uh mention that Reverend Eddie uh wanted

[2:37] very much

[2:38] uh to be here today.

[2:40] Uh but, he had an unavoidable conflict

[2:42] that took him to an out of out of town

[2:43] meeting in Seaford. Um so, he won't be

[2:46] with us today. Um

[2:48] I just want to mention at the outset

[2:50] that uh our primary purpose, at least uh

[2:54] in this one person's view today,

[2:56] uh is just to briefly assemble uh for a

[2:59] short period of time uh to acknowledge

[3:02] uh the May 19th takeover event in

[3:05] Rehoboth and the fact that this

[3:07] committee uh understands

[3:10] uh that it is an event that the

[3:13] community has a sincere interest in and

[3:16] that there are uh individuals as well as

[3:19] organizations

[3:21] uh that are interested in that event and

[3:24] law enforcement's response.

[3:26] Um it has been gratifying uh to the

[3:29] chair at least, and I'll share with my

[3:31] uh fellow members if they're not aware,

[3:34] um that there's already been a number of

[3:36] face-to-face communications between

[3:39] individuals and various groups and

[3:41] citizens within uh the greater Rehoboth

[3:43] community with with law enforcement and

[3:46] specifically with the Rehoboth Police

[3:48] Department and and Chief Banks and with

[3:53] an already open

[3:55] and direct avenue of communication

[3:57] already existing between the community

[3:59] and the law and law enforcement,

[4:02] um,

[4:03] it may which is of course a great thing

[4:05] and a good thing and one of the reasons

[4:07] that we all love the community that

[4:09] we're in, um,

[4:11] it may be unnecessary for this committee

[4:14] to act as a proactive conduit for a

[4:17] productive dialogue. And that's a good

[4:18] thing.

[4:19] Um, nevertheless, we wanted to say to

[4:23] the community that we're here, we

[4:26] understand that we may have a role with

[4:30] regard to acting as a conduit for the

[4:34] community to reach out to law

[4:36] enforcement with any questions or

[4:37] concerns that they may have with regard

[4:40] to this particular event or any other

[4:42] issue

[4:43] that involves law enforcement in any of

[4:46] our respective communities, whether it's

[4:49] with Delaware River Bay Authority

[4:51] police or the town of Lewis or here in

[4:54] Rehoboth. Um, and we understand that we

[4:56] do have a role in fostering a productive

[5:00] dialogue between the community and law

[5:02] enforcement. And, if appropriate, to

[5:06] offer helpful suggestions

[5:08] should

[5:09] such events arise again in the future.

[5:13] Um,

[5:14] so having said that, um,

[5:17] I would like to suggest and open

[5:20] the floor to discussion with my fellow

[5:21] committee members that we dedicate our

[5:24] third quarter meeting,

[5:26] specifically during the month of

[5:27] September,

[5:28] to a substantive discussion of the May

[5:31] takeover event and law enforcement's

[5:33] response.

[5:35] I'll start off by respectfully

[5:36] suggesting,

[5:38] mid to late September for two important

[5:42] reasons.

[5:44] First, it may be

[5:46] that persons who

[5:49] were arrested would like to come and

[5:52] speak to the committee and and provide

[5:54] their views

[5:56] on on the event. Um if we give the

[6:00] criminal

[6:01] justice process more time to work itself

[6:04] out, it may be that uh potential Fifth

[6:08] Amendment issues

[6:10] um which might be an impediment to

[6:13] someone coming and feeling free to speak

[6:15] to us. It may be that those issues could

[6:16] be resolved.

[6:18] So if someone, for example, was arrested

[6:20] and has a pending criminal case, uh it

[6:23] may be that they would choose not to

[6:27] to speak to us and make any public

[6:28] statements and that because that could

[6:31] potentially redound to their detriment.

[6:33] Um so if we give

[6:35] and the process, the criminal justice

[6:36] process, more time to work out, um

[6:39] perhaps we could remove that as an

[6:41] impediment to folks being willing to

[6:43] come speak to us.

[6:45] Um secondly, I I

[6:47] and again, in this one person's view, I

[6:49] believe it would be appropriate to take

[6:52] a little bit more time uh before having

[6:55] a substantive dialogue about the event

[6:58] to allow um Mr. Walton, Mr. Max Walton,

[7:01] who is retained uh by the city to

[7:04] conduct their conduct an independent

[7:07] investigation of the event, to allow him

[7:09] time to and his staff to complete their

[7:12] investigation and to make their findings

[7:14] public.

[7:15] So on the one hand, we are more well

[7:19] informed and better informed, um which

[7:23] at a minimum would make the process, I

[7:25] think, a little bit more efficient, and

[7:27] it just may also be the prudent thing to

[7:29] do, um to wait till we have more facts

[7:33] at our disposal to inform any inquiries

[7:35] that we might have and questions that we

[7:38] would like to pose perhaps uh to law

[7:40] enforcement with regard to their

[7:41] response.

[7:43] Um,

[7:44] so, with those preliminary remarks out

[7:46] of the way, uh, I would open the floor

[7:47] at this point to my fellow committee

[7:48] members for any views they might have

[7:51] uh, and may wish to express with regard

[7:53] to the subject of when should we

[7:55] schedule,

[7:57] uh, our next meeting generally

[8:00] uh, and whether or not at that time we

[8:02] should be discussing or devote time to

[8:05] discussing the May 19th event.

[8:07] And then of course there are other

[8:08] issues that were raised uh, in the past.

[8:11] I know both Chris and Mary and Kim have

[8:14] raised uh, other issues that they'd like

[8:16] to see placed on future agendas and

[8:18] perhaps we could address those as well

[8:19] and take care of all of that

[8:20] administrative business here today.

[8:22] Uh, so with that I will conclude my

[8:25] remarks and open up the floor to my

[8:27] fellow members for any remarks that they

[8:29] care to make.

[8:33] » Ladies first. Uh, I know my man

[8:36] » Um, I I agree with everything you said

[8:39] Dan and um,

[8:42] would like us to have our next meeting

[8:45] hopefully after the independent

[8:47] investigation is complete so that we can

[8:50] have

[8:52] a report

[8:53] a good discussion.

[9:00] » Mr. Chairman, I concur as well.

[9:03] I do think that it's a

[9:05] I do think Mr. Chairman, I do concur as

[9:08] well. I do think that this committee

[9:10] serves multiple purposes and uh, I do

[9:14] not see members of the public. So,

[9:17] you're with the newspaper?

[9:19] Yes. Recognizable.

[9:22] But but the general and you represent

[9:25] the public, absolutely do. But this

[9:27] committee also serves as an opportunity

[9:30] for I've seen people write into the Cape

[9:33] Gazette expressing their opinions etc.

[9:37] But this committee also serves a purpose

[9:40] by allowing a forum to have those same

[9:43] type of citizens come and address their

[9:45] concerns or state their

[9:48] positions or questions, and so on and so

[9:51] forth. So, I think that that's a good

[9:53] idea and that we do allow these other

[9:58] processes

[10:00] to go forward as well.

[10:05] » I agree with both of what Kim and Dan

[10:07] said. Um my only question was I thought

[10:09] that all the charges had been dismissed.

[10:13] » Well, it's interesting because

[10:15] that's

[10:18] our lack of knowledge,

[10:20] right? Because

[10:22] » I I only know this from the press

[10:24] reports.

[10:25] » I mean, that's that's part of it's part

[10:27] of the problem is we don't know.

[10:30] I I believe

[10:33] that

[10:34] the four felony charges

[10:37] were dismissed. And And while I don't

[10:39] want to be to nerd out on the law too

[10:41] much, um

[10:44] but one of the questions that I would

[10:46] have before we have any substantive

[10:47] discussions, assuming for the sake of

[10:49] argument that any of these four young

[10:51] men would like to speak to us,

[10:53] um and we're open to it. And And I'm

[10:55] sure we're all in agreement that if if

[10:57] someone

[10:58] uh would like to speak to us, that we're

[10:59] here to listen. That's what we want to

[11:01] do, and that's what we should do.

[11:03] But, I don't know, for example, whether

[11:05] the charges were dismissed with

[11:07] prejudice or without prejudice. And

[11:09] again, not to nerd out too much, if the

[11:11] charges were dismissed without

[11:12] prejudice, in theory they can be

[11:14] rebrought by the state at any time. And

[11:18] those young men would have an extant

[11:21] Fifth Amendment privilege. Obviously,

[11:23] they

[11:24] They They can make their personal

[11:25] choices in consultation with their

[11:26] counsel, obviously.

[11:28] But, I wouldn't want to see our

[11:30] committee be a venue for young people

[11:34] saying things that could come back to

[11:36] hurt them later or be used against them.

[11:38] Um, so it's a good it's a good point.

[11:42] There are also other folks, if my

[11:44] understanding is correct again just from

[11:45] press reports,

[11:47] that there were other arrests for

[11:49] uh underage drinking, uh perhaps there

[11:53] was a fight or some I don't know, but

[11:54] there were other there were charges

[11:56] other than

[11:57] or in addition to the four prominent

[12:00] felony charges. Um, so with regard to

[12:03] any of those folks,

[12:05] on the one hand, would we love to hear

[12:07] their perspective if they wanted to

[12:08] share it? Of course. Would we want them

[12:10] to risk harming themselves in the

[12:13] process?

[12:14] I think not.

[12:16] So, if we give more of this time to work

[12:18] out and we can learn more, then we can

[12:20] be more informed uh about how we proceed

[12:24] in our questioning of anyone who appears

[12:26] before us. But that's it's a great

[12:28] question, Andrew, and it's something

[12:29] that we need to learn.

[12:35] Any Anything else on that particular

[12:36] topic?

[12:38] Um [clears throat]

[12:39] Chief?

[12:41] » I think uh

[12:44] Speaking of talking about dates, we're

[12:46] looking at September, if I heard you

[12:48] correctly, maybe the latter. Um

[12:51] keeping in mind Tuesdays I think worked

[12:53] the best for everybody. So far we've

[12:55] been doing it consistently.

[12:57] Um the 2nd and 3rd we usually have state

[13:00] meetings. Can I only say that if that's

[13:02] the case, that would say the 22nd or the

[13:05] 29th

[13:07] um day. And then I would look over at

[13:09] Marco and see if any of those dates are

[13:11] available here or if um Tom knows if if

[13:15] the room's available in Lewis.

[13:19] » We're on one of the fine DRBA vessels as

[13:21] well. That's always a possibility.

[13:23] [laughter]

[13:23] » That's correct, too.

[13:25] » There you go.

[13:26] » But you got those dates works for

[13:27] everyone.

[13:31] » Okay.

[13:32] » So, I heard both days are are really

[13:35] available in here for 10:00. That's the

[13:37] 22nd and 29th. That's

[13:40] last two

[13:42] Tuesdays of the month of September.

[13:45] If anybody has a preference.

[13:46] » Any preferences among my colleagues?

[13:50] I I'd suggest that we

[13:52] go with the 29th just to make sure that

[13:54] we've given it time.

[13:56] » Great suggestion. It's a good point.

[13:58] » Think holding it here, given the

[14:00] majority of the topic will be about

[14:02] [clears throat] the takeover.

[14:04] It might lend itself to more community

[14:06] members.

[14:07] » Also a good point.

[14:08] » Coming and commenting.

[14:10] » So, Tuesday, September 29th, 10:00 a.m.

[14:14] here.

[14:16] » Correct. And I'll work with you, Mr.

[14:18] Chairman, to get the agenda put together

[14:20] and make sure that the city of Rehoboth

[14:22] Beach gets that posted and put out to

[14:24] everyone as it gets closer.

[14:26] » Great. Now, I

[14:28] So, just so we play by the rules, I

[14:30] suppose make a formal motion that we

[14:32] hold our next

[14:33] quarterly meeting on Tuesday, September

[14:35] 29th at 10:00 a.m. here in Rehoboth.

[14:38] Second it. Second. Favor say I.

[14:41] » I.

[14:41] » Okay.

[14:43] Um

[14:46] Should we

[14:47] um

[14:48] My notes reflect that

[14:51] there were other issues. Should we also

[14:53] include on the agenda Chris, for

[14:55] example, last time we were here

[14:57] uh raised the issue of fraud and senior

[15:01] citizen victims.

[15:02] Kim had raised uh wanting to have some

[15:04] discussion about mental health crisis

[15:06] responses and gang activity.

[15:09] Um

[15:10] Mary

[15:11] » I have two two topics.

[15:12] » Had had two different topics.

[15:13] » Yes.

[15:14] » I I On the one hand, um I'll I'll

[15:18] take judgment from you folks. On one

[15:20] hand, I don't want to overload it if got

[15:22] one big topic we want to deal with, but

[15:24] also

[15:26] how do you think

[15:27] we should handle that with regard to our

[15:29] other issues?

[15:31] » I mean, it seems to me we need to see

[15:33] how this plays out in terms of the

[15:35] timing with the report from the

[15:38] independent counsel completing that and

[15:42] being ready for that timing. So, one

[15:44] thought would be we could list out the

[15:47] top the other topics, prioritize them.

[15:51] If the takeover topic can be discussed,

[15:54] then we put that first cuz I think it is

[15:56] on people's minds and and then based on

[16:00] the list of priorities, we can time out

[16:02] what else we have room for or what may

[16:04] be more urgent. And then the the other

[16:06] topics

[16:07] still important, we could push to the

[16:09] next meeting potentially.

[16:10] » Fair enough. We get We get to what we

[16:12] can get to. We start with the takeover

[16:14] incident. However much time that takes,

[16:17] get to as much else as we can. If not,

[16:20] we push it to our

[16:22] our next regularly scheduled meeting.

[16:24] Does that make sense?

[16:25] » Yeah, and as far as my topic is with uh

[16:29] fraud with the seniors, um

[16:32] I am working with the University of

[16:33] Delaware Osher Lifelong Learning

[16:36] Institute, and then we have a class that

[16:38] is scheduled in September and October.

[16:41] It's five sessions from 2:30 to 3:45 in

[16:45] Lewis.

[16:46] Um so, Lieutenant Locklear and then Dan

[16:49] have um graciously um agreed to

[16:52] volunteer to present at um two of those.

[16:55] I'm going to be a presenter as well as

[16:57] the um Better Business Bureau of

[16:59] Delaware and then possibly AARP. So, I

[17:02] don't think it's a topic we necessarily

[17:04] need to discuss here. I was just

[17:05] bringing it up something I was um

[17:07] working on.

[17:08] » That Well, that's that sounds great.

[17:10] Talk about that. An issue that needs to

[17:12] be addressed, so thanks for doing that,

[17:13] Chris. Get that organized.

[17:15] » Should I

[17:16] just briefly mention two topics so

[17:19] everyone's aware?

[17:20] So, um

[17:22] the first one came from a citizen who

[17:25] was concerned about um

[17:28] jurisdictions publishing via the

[17:30] newspaper and social media mugshots of

[17:34] arrestees, in particular juveniles, and

[17:37] I I don't have any specifics as to

[17:39] whether that's

[17:41] uh a common practice or whether that's

[17:43] not done, but I think it would be useful

[17:46] for us to hear about the approach the

[17:49] different jurisdictions take towards

[17:52] that, the policies and procedures that

[17:54] govern it, and what happens after that

[17:58] case is adjudicated, in particular if

[18:00] the person is not found guilty, that

[18:04] material is still out in the public

[18:06] domain. So, that's um my first question,

[18:09] and it did come from a citizen of

[18:11] Rehoboth Beach.

[18:13] The second one came from uh my

[18:15] ride-along that I did with Lieutenant

[18:17] Lamore, which was extremely informative.

[18:20] Uh we spent 6 hours together, um

[18:24] and I learned through that visit and

[18:27] tour

[18:28] uh about a little bit more about the use

[18:31] of tasers, and I know you participated

[18:33] with the the training on tasers, which I

[18:35] was unable to do.

[18:37] Um I also learned that I believe the

[18:39] city of Rehoboth and the city of Lewis

[18:42] do use tasers as part of their protocol,

[18:45] but um the Delaware um

[18:48] uh River and Bay Authority does not have

[18:51] tasers for some jurisdictional reasons,

[18:54] and so,

[18:55] uh you know, when we were talking about

[18:57] this with respect to, you might have 800

[19:00] people on the ferry, and the choice is

[19:03] you're either physically trying to

[19:06] handle a situation, potentially

[19:09] you know, injuring yourself or a um a

[19:12] victim or a witness or a perpetrator

[19:16] or you have the use of a firearm

[19:19] it does seem like you know some

[19:21] questions about whether or not tasers

[19:24] should be more broadly used. So my my

[19:27] reasoning in bringing this up is just to

[19:29] help educate our committee about how the

[19:33] use of tasers works and maybe the pros

[19:36] and cons of of that in terms of an

[19:39] alternative to the use of deadly force.

[19:44] » That's a great issue. Mayor and I spoke

[19:46] offline about that briefly and it is

[19:48] something that's worthy of of discussion

[19:50] and and something that we

[19:53] would benefit from educating ourselves

[19:55] on that. So

[19:56] if we get to it

[19:58] that's something that we can we can talk

[20:01] about.

[20:01] » Yes Mr. Chairman I would add since that

[20:05] topic comes up has come up

[20:07] depend on our time frame and so when we

[20:10] get to that maybe we can have a bigger

[20:13] topic just on use of force in general to

[20:15] how we sit there and

[20:18] what tools are on our tool belt per se

[20:20] and what we use for different

[20:22] jurisdictions and

[20:23] and reasons behind it. Most our

[20:25] departments have people use of force I

[20:28] want to say I'll call them specialists

[20:29] there's you know they teach firearms

[20:31] training or they teach taser training or

[20:33] baton or or hands on handcuffing things

[20:36] like that so we can think 21 our

[20:39] departments we have some specialties

[20:41] that we can talk about that more detail

[20:44] or whatever. I think that's always

[20:46] important and I think it's certainly

[20:47] something this committee should be

[20:49] talking about that's what the public's

[20:51] interested in use of force and as we

[20:53] move forward so I think it's certainly

[20:55] appropriate and think um

[20:57] that may almost be a day in it by itself

[21:00] if we had different people talking about

[21:02] use of force in their

[21:04] the different tools that we have.

[21:06] » Well, thanks, Chief.

[21:08] Um

[21:10] So, I just to

[21:12] uh to conclude on on that topic, um

[21:14] again, I I just wanted to reiterate I

[21:15] was I was gratified to hear, and I'm

[21:17] sure my fellow committee members are

[21:19] gratified to hear that there has been

[21:21] uh

[21:22] an open line of communication

[21:24] uh between law enforcement and members

[21:26] of the community and different groups

[21:28] within the greater Rehoboth community.

[21:31] Um but if we can add to that, if we can

[21:33] help play a role uh in facilitating um

[21:37] community involvement, uh that's what

[21:39] we're here to do, and

[21:40] uh we're willing and able and anxious to

[21:43] listen, and if appropriate, pass on

[21:45] suggestions that uh may come from

[21:48] different community members in terms of

[21:51] of how we may handle ourselves uh should

[21:53] si- similar situations arise in the

[21:54] future.

[21:56] So, with that, I thank everyone.

[21:58] Um

[21:59] Yes, sir.

[22:00] » If I may not to belittle the same topic,

[22:02] but um here in Rehoboth Beach is has

[22:05] been uh mentioned that um the city has

[22:07] retained outside counsel to be looking

[22:09] into this investigation. It is my

[22:11] understanding, again, the mayor and

[22:13] council or will decide, I guess, if they

[22:15] want to, but I believe

[22:17] that they'll they're going to do a

[22:19] when this the investigation's done, open

[22:21] forum to anyway and have people come in,

[22:23] so this would be another opportunity.

[22:26] So, um

[22:27] which I think is great or whatever. Um

[22:30] so, it may have already be out there and

[22:32] discussed ahead of time, but obviously

[22:35] there's several different approaches

[22:37] maybe

[22:37] » I'm sorry. So, you were saying that when

[22:39] the

[22:40] When the report's done

[22:41] » My understanding is the city may elect

[22:43] to decide to have a open house or a

[22:45] community forum or something, too. So,

[22:49] Um so,

[22:50] the That's why it's good have maybe some

[22:52] other topics ready there so we you guys

[22:55] obviously can hear it again hear again,

[22:57] depending on how the conclusion of the

[22:59] um investigation goes. I will just echo

[23:02] um as um the chairperson said, is I have

[23:06] um

[23:06] been reaching out and speaking with some

[23:08] different community members, some

[23:09] outside citizens, some residents, just

[23:11] talking to them one-on-one. Um not not

[23:14] many. And then

[23:16] a couple local groups have reached out

[23:19] out and so I met with two of them. I

[23:21] think there was a total five of us got

[23:23] together last Thursday and spoke and it

[23:25] was productive or whatever. And still

[23:28] not substantive cuz we still waiting for

[23:30] an investigation and all, but I'm

[23:32] certainly have that dialogue and all

[23:34] with beach since this is where it

[23:35] occurred. Is I'm very fortunate. I have

[23:38] a lot of different community members and

[23:40] organizations such as Camp and Main

[23:43] Street, Chamber of Commerce and all. And

[23:45] I meet with them monthly.

[23:47] So at the same time we broke talked

[23:49] about it and all. And all of them have

[23:50] concerns rightly so and and they're

[23:52] board members that they want to report

[23:54] back to. So they'll be coming, you know,

[23:56] in

[23:58] ready to hear what's going to be

[23:59] concluded or whatever, but everybody's

[24:01] been very um

[24:03] forthright and very professional. All

[24:05] organizations say, "How can we help?"

[24:07] You know, we know there's investigation.

[24:09] Help out with training or anything like

[24:11] that. So

[24:12] I do want to say publicly thank you to

[24:14] our community members and and for for

[24:17] the support without taking sides. It's

[24:19] just hey, let's wait for the the facts

[24:21] to come out. So that's that's been

[24:23] really good and I think that goes to

[24:25] show a lot about this packs what why we

[24:28] have this and why we have law

[24:30] enforcement we get together with our

[24:32] community members. So

[24:34] we can have those um

[24:37] partnerships already. So we sit there

[24:39] and have that open line of communication

[24:41] or whatever. But yes, everybody's

[24:42] waiting for the facts just like this. So

[24:45] are we. And you know, I'm sure though um

[24:48] that will come out and there'll be some

[24:49] things that we can

[24:50] learn from that as every

[24:53] case anytime how we we improve on on it

[24:56] and

[24:57] work with our community. So, we're

[24:59] certainly looking forward to that, but

[25:01] yes,

[25:02] Decker, what you said, we are reaching

[25:03] out as much as possible. I'm kind of

[25:05] limited on what I can um

[25:07] as far as the investigation stuff, I can

[25:09] say um on Thursday and this past Monday

[25:12] um majority of my

[25:14] um officers that were being interviewed

[25:17] have been interviewed. I'm not sure

[25:19] which else is how many more if any more

[25:21] are on the list or not. Uh but I know um

[25:24] the ones I saw and I know

[25:26] um

[25:27] meeting with the attorneys to further

[25:29] investigation, so it is moving along.

[25:32] » Right.

[25:32] Thanks, Chief, for that update.

[25:34] Appreciate it. Um

[25:37] at this time open the floor to public

[25:39] comment, but seeing that there are

[25:41] no members of the public present.

[25:43] Um

[25:44] » Mr. Chairman, just two items before we

[25:47] » Yes, sir. Yes, sir, Dan.

[25:48] » Um Lieutenant, I read in the newspaper

[25:51] that you have a new addition to your

[25:53] staff the of the four-legged nature that

[25:55] is

[25:56] assigned to Cape May.

[26:00] » That is correct.

[26:02] » [clears throat]

[26:02] » K9 Joker is his name.

[26:04] » Got you. Congratulations on that front.

[26:06] » Thank you.

[26:07] » And also to our law enforcement

[26:09] leadership, fellow members, Mr.

[26:11] Chairman, if I'm not mistaken, it was

[26:13] June 1 year ago that we first met.

[26:16] So, I don't see a cake, but hey, you

[26:19] know what? Congratulations

[26:21] » [laughter]

[26:21] » 1 year in the books and thank you for

[26:24] having the confidence in all of us to be

[26:26] on the committee.

[26:27] » My pleasure.

[26:29] » Thank you for stepping up and

[26:30] volunteering.

[26:32] » Well, if he really stepped up, he would

[26:33] have brought the cake.

[26:34] » That's true.

[26:34] » [laughter]

[26:37] » Um Mr. Chair, I'm wondering, too, if we

[26:39] can talk briefly about Mary's survey and

[26:43] the work that's being done there as it

[26:45] relates to potential new members.

[26:48] » Sure.

[26:48] » And the other thing is I think

[26:51] we're starting the clock on some

[26:53] continued training. Is that right for

[26:55] this coming year?

[26:57] Do we have more training?

[27:00] » I I'd have to read that. I don't think

[27:01] we have to is the your first year you

[27:03] had to have 20 hours now. I certainly

[27:06] think we should always be learning and I

[27:08] will always open up any training we have

[27:11] on like when we come back to taser again

[27:14] on for that and our seasonal training

[27:16] and things like that. So um

[27:18] and I would encourage the board if you

[27:21] have a topic of some training or

[27:22] whatever to let us know. We might even

[27:24] have instructors

[27:26] to be able to sit down and talk about

[27:28] it, you know, could we have detectives

[27:30] um

[27:30] when we talk about fraud or seniors or

[27:33] people we can sit up

[27:35] people to come in here, AG's office um

[27:39] FBI protection details, what whatever. I

[27:42] think it's whatever this committee

[27:44] wants, but we certainly

[27:45] can do additional training.

[27:47] » I would welcome, you know, emails or

[27:49] whatever about any upcoming trainings or

[27:53] um education that would help us as a

[27:55] board.

[27:56] » It's interesting cuz I I tried to

[27:58] research whether there was any ongoing

[28:00] requirement. It doesn't appear that

[28:02] there is anything

[28:04] listed. It's silent on that, but I would

[28:07] concur with your recommendation that we

[28:10] need to continuously

[28:12] be keeping ourselves educated and I

[28:15] think just learning helps us to be

[28:18] better able to serve the community.

[28:23] » In that regard maybe the discussion of

[28:25] use of force would be better off as a

[28:28] training session rather than a

[28:30] using the minutes of a regular meeting.

[28:34] It's a suggestion.

[28:36] Perhaps

[28:37] Perhaps

[28:39] » Yeah, I think we certainly can do do

[28:41] that and use as training hours even at

[28:43] one of the regular meetings and um one

[28:45] of us

[28:46] would talk offline and um bring in

[28:48] different people from our department and

[28:50] our person in charge of taser and other

[28:52] one can talk about overview of policies

[28:55] and procedures we use it for us. Um

[28:57] maybe have our one of our firearms

[28:58] instructors to sit there and talk about

[29:00] about that and what the requirements are

[29:02] and all and um so yeah.

[29:06] Yeah, so I think you could take a full

[29:08] 90 to hours up on that and use it as

[29:10] training during one of our meetings.

[29:12] » Okay.

[29:13] » Yeah, I like the idea of doing it doing

[29:15] it during a meeting because then the

[29:17] public gets to hear

[29:19] about the policies and procedures and

[29:22] about the training that the officers

[29:24] undergo and I think that would be of

[29:26] benefit to the community.

[29:28] » And and hopefully as we get this going

[29:31] we'll have more community members um

[29:32] come forward to these meetings and be

[29:34] able to ask questions at the time while

[29:36] we're all there.

[29:38] » Okay.

[29:39] » Sounds good.

[29:40] Um Mary, if you want to take a moment to

[29:42] » Sure.

[29:42] » Discuss the

[29:44] » Sure, so

[29:45] » What you've been trying to do for us.

[29:46] » So at our last meeting just to bring

[29:49] everybody back to that we had an

[29:52] applicant. We made the decision to put

[29:55] on hold um

[29:57] bringing anyone new onto the committee

[29:59] until we were able to really assess

[30:02] our own makeup with respect to are we

[30:05] representative of the constituencies

[30:08] that we serve.

[30:09] So with our chair's help we have

[30:12] developed a very brief

[30:14] survey for each of our committee members

[30:17] » [clears throat]

[30:17] » That is intended to just better

[30:20] understand their experiences and

[30:22] perspectives. It's an anonymous survey.

[30:25] Uh there's no attribution of names. Uh

[30:28] in fact it's simply a check the box. So

[30:32] people won't be writing in any comments.

[30:35] Um I will then take those results,

[30:38] summarize those results

[30:40] and at a future meeting when

[30:42] appropriate, share that with

[30:45] the committee and our officers and the

[30:47] public so that we're better informed as

[30:50] to as candidates present themselves,

[30:54] what gaps we may have currently on the

[30:56] committee and where we might be looking

[30:58] to try to augment our own experiences

[31:02] with other members of the community that

[31:03] may bring unique perspectives.

[31:08] » Great. Thank Thank you, Mary. Thank And

[31:10] thanks for taking on the responsibility

[31:12] of doing that.

[31:14] Um

[31:19] Okay. Um

[31:20] Again, open the floor again to public

[31:22] comment.

[31:24] Hearing none, I'd make a motion to

[31:27] adjourn.

[31:29] » Before we adjourn, looks like we have

[31:31] some folks that just showed up. Do they

[31:33] have anything they'd like to engage on?

[31:38] » Um

[31:39] I Yeah. Coast City News. Hi.

[31:42] » Okay.

[31:43] » I have one one more thing. Um

[31:46] Could we just get a little update or

[31:48] whatever on the summer officers?

[31:51] And how that's working for you?

[31:52] » Thank you for for that, Andrew. Um

[31:55] to to my from my perspective,

[31:57] we they're doing a really good job. Um

[31:59] so

[32:00] we had four four returnees.

[32:03] And um

[32:07] you know, so with so many younger ones,

[32:09] some first year, they're a little bit

[32:10] hesitant. So we're out there they're

[32:11] doing some ride-along with full-time

[32:13] officers and walking with full-time

[32:14] officers, but they're doing a nice job.

[32:16] Um I've had no complaints. Um when I

[32:18] speak with them one-on-one, they love

[32:20] it.

[32:21] And uh they really thought the training

[32:23] went well. And uh and um quite honestly,

[32:27] um I've seen them to be more um engaging

[32:30] this year with the public. I have

[32:32] received um letters already and emails

[32:35] um about their engagement and um being

[32:38] out front and being seen. So, that's

[32:40] always positive early on because

[32:42] sometimes it takes a a month or two

[32:45] you know, for them to feel comfortable

[32:47] in the uniform that they're wearing per

[32:48] se. They

[32:50] but so far it's been very positive.

[32:54] Our summer overall is

[32:56] been steady but nothing major. Um,

[33:01] Mark, anything you want to add with

[33:02] summer officers?

[33:03] » I don't think so. I mean, I would I

[33:04] would I think when we started I was

[33:07] speaking with Kim that they seem to be a

[33:09] lot more proactive this year than they

[33:11] have in past years, which is good. It's

[33:13] nice to see them go out and actually do

[33:14] something.

[33:16] » Yeah, and I think that gets goes back to

[33:18] the training that we changed it up this

[33:20] year and they had more time on scenario

[33:23] based

[33:24] and using the radio and get

[33:26] body camera and things like that to just

[33:29] get more comfortable with their tools

[33:32] and with their selves in uniform. So,

[33:35] like I said, I think that's been a big

[33:36] help help

[33:38] spend additional hours and more training

[33:40] on us and this year we

[33:42] as many of you may know,

[33:44] we actually put in two TAC officers. So,

[33:47] they're with them all four weeks and

[33:49] also it's very consistent with those

[33:51] individuals. So, they feel more

[33:53] comfortable with them sharing things

[33:55] because not only do we talk about

[33:58] what their jobs are and functions out

[34:00] there, we talk about their health and

[34:02] wellness. So, we've got those components

[34:04] in there too. So, I think they feel more

[34:06] comfortable even with us to to go out

[34:09] there and in turn hopefully that

[34:10] reflects out to our public.

[34:13] » Chief, free question.

[34:14] » I'd like to add that as I take my walks

[34:17] on the boardwalk, I've met I would say

[34:19] four seasonal officers

[34:22] and I try to engage them and let them

[34:24] know I'm on the committee and ask them,

[34:26] you know, is this your first year? Do

[34:28] you want a career in law enforcement?

[34:30] Get to know them for, you know, two

[34:31] three minutes and they've been very

[34:33] professional, very engaging and they all

[34:35] seem very happy to be here. So, I would

[34:38] encourage you to do the same and you get

[34:39] some exercise as well.

[34:41] » It's it's actually I would agree with

[34:43] you. I've been trying to do the same and

[34:45] it's really encouraging to see how many

[34:48] members of the community are approaching

[34:50] them just to have a chat, you know, they

[34:52] they do seem more engaged this year. So,

[34:56] kudos. If that was part of the training,

[34:59] that's really helping them to do better

[35:00] outreach. That's seems to really be

[35:02] working.

[35:04] » It is but at the same time we're very

[35:06] fortunate. It's

[35:08] it's been a turnaround the last year and

[35:10] a half with off more officers applying

[35:13] for full-time and seasonal employment.

[35:15] So, you have more opportunity to do more

[35:17] interviews, testing and look for those

[35:20] individuals cuz as we know at the beach

[35:22] resorts and and with the ferry terminal,

[35:25] it is about

[35:27] the public serving. It's about

[35:28] communication and so

[35:31] that's what we need out of our officers

[35:33] to be ambassadors and that's what we sit

[35:35] down and teach them a lot as some of you

[35:37] said in the training and you would hear

[35:39] that from the mayor, commissioners and

[35:41] myself when I'm addressing them.

[35:44] » Thank you, Chief. And Mary thankfully

[35:47] pointed out that I was skipping over

[35:49] one item agenda

[35:51] one agenda item, excuse me.

[35:54] If there was any additional reports or

[35:56] anything from

[35:58] from our law enforcement members.

[36:01] Lieutenant Lamore, is there any

[36:03] » No.

[36:03] » We'll go down the line.

[36:04] » None.

[36:06] » Not this time.

[36:07] » [clears throat]

[36:07] » Next time I'll probably have a list of

[36:09] different events that we've had

[36:10] » Right.

[36:11] » Up until September that I can report on.

[36:13] » Right. Thank you.

[36:14] » We had we did have the World Cup watch

[36:16] party at the ferry. I can report on

[36:19] that. There was I think over a thousand

[36:20] people showed up.

[36:21] » Really?

[36:22] » Yeah.

[36:22] » Yeah, I was going to do a kudos on that

[36:24] because I attended and it was the police

[36:27] presence was wonderful, the city of

[36:29] Lewis, and the Delaware River Bay

[36:31] Authority.

[36:33] And [clears throat]

[36:34] it was really nice to see families and

[36:37] kids

[36:38] all convening and

[36:41] cheering on a team.

[36:43] » Yeah.

[36:43] » Nice nice community event.

[36:45] » They were expecting around 500 and a bit

[36:47] more than double. So.

[36:50] It was a lot.

[36:51] But it went well.

[36:52] » Great. Chief?

[36:53] » The only upcoming thing for Lewis uh our

[36:55] June 10th celebration is this Saturday

[36:57] 1:00 to 5:00 in Blockhouse Pond.

[37:01] And that's it.

[37:02] » Thanks.

[37:03] » I was just going to mention the summer

[37:04] races which we've already talked about

[37:06] out so that has going well and of course

[37:08] we're having a big event coming up the

[37:10] 5th of July for our fireworks and

[37:12] celebration in 250 years. So it's going

[37:14] to be an extended fireworks. So we're

[37:16] expecting big crowds and hoping for

[37:18] great weather and I just had So we're

[37:21] setting that up or have law enforcement

[37:23] agencies come in and help us out. The

[37:25] big lift is from the Delaware State

[37:27] Police and their special unit so they'll

[37:29] all be in place as well as live other

[37:31] local municipalities and in turn will

[37:33] help them out with their events back and

[37:36] forth throughout the state up and down

[37:38] the state A for that. So it's a

[37:39] definitely a group effort. Just spoke

[37:42] with the lifeguards this morning. We'll

[37:44] have lifeguards on the beach as we do

[37:45] every year too.

[37:47] And for anything that happens extended

[37:50] hours so they'll they won't be guarding

[37:52] but they'll be helping us with the

[37:53] fireworks and crowd control and things

[37:55] like that on the beach and till it's

[37:57] over.

[37:58] » Right. Thanks, Chief.

[38:00] » And one of Sorry, Lieutenant.

[38:02] » Sorry, I do have two more things since

[38:03] we won't be back till September. Um

[38:05] so grain concert series they call it

[38:08] rocking the docks. It's every Friday

[38:11] throughout the summer. So I think

[38:12] there's like

[38:13] 18 concerts

[38:16] on the ferry green.

[38:18] And it's they get anywhere from 3 to 700

[38:21] people.

[38:22] » Wow.

[38:23] » Depending on who's what

[38:25] who's playing in the concert.

[38:27] And then we also have Rock the Boat

[38:28] concerts, and that's every Thursday

[38:30] through the summer.

[38:31] » Fireworks.

[38:32] » And the fireworks, July 2nd, 3rd, and

[38:34] 4th events.

[38:35] » Wow.

[38:36] » Obviously, if they're plugging their

[38:38] fireworks, uh

[38:39] » [laughter]

[38:40] » Lewes has quite a show on July 4th

[38:42] itself at dusk on

[38:45] on Lewes Beach. So.

[38:47] » And sure as well, this body won't meet

[38:50] till September.

[38:52] Uh

[38:52] » [clears throat]

[38:52] » I see on the calendar that August 4th is

[38:54] listed as the National Night Out for law

[38:56] enforcement.

[38:57] » Yep.

[38:58] » Could one of you maybe briefly explain

[39:00] for folks that may or may not know what

[39:03] that is, and do each of your agencies

[39:05] participate in that?

[39:07] » Sure, uh National Night Out is a is a

[39:09] just that. It's a National Night Out

[39:11] where

[39:12] municipal law enforcement agencies get

[39:14] to connect with their communities. Uh

[39:16] Lewes, we do it on August 4th uh every

[39:19] year.

[39:20] » First Tuesday of the month, I think. Uh

[39:23] of August. And uh it's just it's a good

[39:25] event. We cook uh for our community. We

[39:28] have a band. We have uh

[39:30] probably 30 different vendors there

[39:32] providing uh

[39:33] you know, free things from, you know,

[39:36] blood pressure screening to uh

[39:38] information about uh

[39:40] different services in the state uh that

[39:43] people can take advantage of. So, it's a

[39:44] really nice event for Lewes. It's a

[39:46] Blockhouse Pond. Uh

[39:49] 5:00 to 8:00

[39:51] on August 4th.

[39:55] » In Rehoboth, we unfortunately do not. I

[39:57] tried early on to have that, and we just

[40:01] the community most of it was rental

[40:02] property at the time. Um and we just

[40:05] didn't get the buy-in from community.

[40:06] So, it was a lot of just visitors or

[40:08] whatever, um which is great, but um we

[40:11] had so many other events going on at

[40:12] same time with bandstand concerts and

[40:15] and all of that. It was just kind of

[40:17] adding to some of the chaos and really

[40:18] wasn't taking the time to get our

[40:20] message out. So, people were coming out,

[40:22] maybe grabbing some free food or and

[40:24] all, which is fine in the product, but

[40:26] they really weren't engaging law

[40:28] enforcement where we really want to give

[40:30] back to. So, we've been trying to other

[40:32] smaller events during fall months and

[40:34] springs, things like that with our

[40:36] community. And all and being involved in

[40:38] like Camp Rehoboth block parties and

[40:40] things like that, trying to get

[40:42] involved. That being said, we do

[40:45] recognize the importance of it. So, we

[40:47] send officers each year to Lewes, to

[40:49] Milton, other departments that are

[40:51] having that and help out and things down

[40:53] to Ocean View and Bethany, like we'll

[40:55] help out at different events.

[40:57] » Great.

[40:58] Thanks, gentlemen.

[41:00] Uh again, open the floor

[41:02] uh to public comment.

[41:05] Seeing no one present,

[41:06] I'll make a motion to adjourn.

[41:08] » Second.

[41:09] » All in favor?

[41:11] » I.

[41:12] » Thank you all. Thanks, everyone for

[41:13] coming.

[41:14] » Thank you.

[41:14] » Thank you all.

[42:23] » Mhm.

Rehoboth Beach and Lewes Police Depts and DE River and Bay Authority PAC Meeting - 23 Jun 2026

Transcript