Mayor Purzycki, Chief Tracy Release Another Chapter Of Wilmington Police Department Policy And Procedures Manual

From the City of Wilmington:

August 12, 2020

Seven of eight chapters have been released in their entirety

With today’s release of Chapter 4 of the Wilmington Police Department’s Policy and Procedures Manual, Mayor Mike Purzycki and Police Chief Robert J. Tracy have now made public seven of the eight chapters of the manual since June 11. Chapter 4 is entitled “Uniform Crime Reporting System” and the directives pertain to procedures for writing various police reports. All public portions of the WPD Manual are available for viewing or download at this link to the WPD webpage.

Portions of Chapter 6, the last chapter still to be released in its entirety, have been made public with the first policy from this chapter—Use of Force—being released for public review in early June. The remaining sections of Chapter 6 are being reviewed by the WPD and City Law Department and will be issued as soon as confidential police investigative procedures are omitted. The Mayor today thanked the Law and Police Departments for moving swiftly this summer to clear and release sections of the manual.

The City has been releasing the manual as part of a pledge to support racial justice reforms in part by being more transparent about City policing policies and procedures. In summary, over the past two months, the Purzycki Administration has publicly posted Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, portions of 6, as well as Chapters 7 and 8.

Mayor Purzycki and Chief Tracy hope that the more residents know about policing policies, the more comfortable they will be with police operations, which will translate into even more cooperation among City police officers and residents.

This press release was produced by the City of Wilmington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.