Community Councilman Davon “D” Marque Hall Announcing Start of 100th Wilmington Police Academy Class
By: D. Marque Hall
Tags: Police Brutality, Wilmington, Police Reform, Police, Police Shooting

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Community Message from

Community Councilman Davon “D” Marque Hall Announcing Start of 100th Wilmington Police Academy Class

Friday November 20, 2020, 1:11 AM

Praying for Wilmington

Dear Family,

I’m not happy to announce the 100th Wilmington Police Academy. We all know more police do not equal less crime.

Twenty-one new academy class recruits who have completed the paper application and the hour-glass sand sifting process are finishing their first week of training today.

Paper bag test not required.

This week these recruits ran and they jumped. They were timed and they were yelled at. They are being prepared with these simple exercises to protect and serve residents and visitors to Delaware’s largest and most Diverse city.

Our city is actually majority Black and Brown.

The 21 recruits were selected from at least 141 men and women who applied to join the force and just about half of the new class is composed of what the department continue to call, “minority” recruits — including ☝🏿 “black” female- they don’t Capitalize the B in Black!

Six Black males, ☝🏼Hispanic female, and 👩‍🦰👱‍♀️👮‍♀️ white females.

Of the 21, only six actually claim to live in Wilmington, Delaware currently while the others will have to move into the City after graduation to comply with the City of Wilmington’s five-year residency requirement for City employees.

Historically police have lied about their place of residence to bypass this rule. Crimes committed by white male as well as white female officers who do not live in our community have been grossly ignored, such was the case with Ricardo Hylton who was gunned down by a white male and white female officer on August 30th, 2019.

I congratulate the recruits for completing the written exam, which is in many ways culturally biased, a physical agility test, which could be more challenging and interview panels including a chief’s interview with a chief who knows exactly what he is and ISN’T looking for in new recruits.

I wish the group well on their journey through the academy, which is expected to graduate in late spring or early summer- less than 6 months which is not nearly long enough to prepare anyone for the type of power and responsibility they will wield.

The screening process doesn’t check who amongst the white male recruits that make up the overwhelming majority of the force already are involved with white supremacist movements like the “proud boys”. They don’t check their tattoos or social media profiles or comments before they arrive here in Wilmington from whereever they’re from.

“The WPD’s authorized strength is 319 officers. The academy is being held to fill officer vacancies created through retirement and attrition”, is what Cheif Tracey who came from Chicago in 2017 has been saying.

“The Wilmington Police Academy is comprised of a rigorous training regimen that prepares our community’s future police officers for the wide range of scenarios they will encounter in service to the public,” said Chief Tracy.

This from a man who orchestrated the coverup of the police killing of Laquan McDonald on Oct. 20th, 2014. Rest in Peace & Power Brother Laquan.

“Our 21st-century training program focuses on everything from constitutional law and other legal matters to de-escalation tactics, community engagement, and a range of technological platforms and cutting-edge crime strategies.”

As soon as police chief Tracey came here he got rid of the police body camera program which was in place here and we have not had transparency or accountability for this police force ever since.

The recruits start each day at 6:00 a.m. with two hours of physical fitness so I hope they won’t be scared of our community and still feel like they have to shoot first. That PT is followed by eight hours of classroom instruction so I hope they know Delaware criminal and traffic law and follow it accordingly and don’t just follow their own implicit bias which you know is also being baked in in training.

They call people where I come from, “Zombies”… sometimes we call ourselves worse.

We as a community must hold public officials accountable when it comes to them knowing patrol functions, Civil Rights, justice and sensitivity. And we mustn’t not forget to check ourselves in the mirror.

Let’s be honest they’re still being trained to aim for center-mass and to grab their guns as fast as possible to shoot at ANY BLACK perceived threat so we owe it to ourselves and our families to avoid any and all contact.

This sorta training goes for ALL recruits. They all receive training in weapons. We must ALL receive training in defense as well.

The best weapon is one you don’t have to fire so stay out of the way.

As far as the Police Academy class goes:

What about de-escalation? What about crisis intervention tactics? What about first-aid and CPR when your waiting on an ambulance?

This sort of training is necessary for over 6 months along with training on how to specifically deal with people with mental health and behavioral health issues. Ricardo Hylton was under mental distress. Jeremy McDole was under mental distress. And many more young unarmed Black men and teenagers shot by the police in Wilmington Delaware such as Yahim Harris were scared — — — more scared than the killer cop who called him a threat and lied, saying Yahim was holding a gun.

That was not true. James McColl who lied after he shot Yahim- who survived- by the grace of God- also was a part of the group of 4 officers who shot and executed Jeremy “Bam Bam” McDole in his wheelchair and they still locked Yahim up and his missed his Senior year of Highschool. He was supposed to be class of 2020.

Ricardo Hylton was a new father to a 5 month old boy- his first born.

Jeremy McDole was paraplegic. He was 28 in 2015 when he was murdered on September 23rd, on Wilmington’s Westside.

All these young Black males were shot by white officers.***

The Mayor and Chief said, “The recruitment process for this academy class reflected expanded efforts by the City to leverage media exposure and work with the community to attract interested ‘minority’ candidates. WPD representatives attended career fairs and other programs at high schools and colleges — including Historically Black Colleges and Universities — and visited community centers to promote the WPD and reach people interested in a law enforcement career. WPD recruitment teams also worked with City Council members, the faith community, and other community-based organizations to promote the application process. These efforts were supplemented by revamped recruiting materials and an updated and expanded recruitment website.”

They say all that to say they tried but this is what we got. We get what we get.

FAMILY IT’S TIME FOR US TO POLICE OUR OWN COMMUNITY.

“While we are always working to recruit future police officers, our team has also been working to continue to increase the diversity of the department, and to attract a wide range of candidates with a variety of backgrounds,” said “Black” Inspector of Administration Charles Emory. “The WPD is steadily becoming more ‘diverse’”- NOT MORE BLACK.

“And our team is proud that the composition of this latest academy class will continue this trend.”- said “Black” Emory

Not more Black…

Over 70 percent white police force in a city composed of over 70 percent people of color?

Chief Tracy recognized the tireless efforts of Inspector Emory, Captain Tashawn Counts, Captain Anthony Bowers, and the members of the WPD Human Resources Division for working throughout the past year to recruit applicants who look like them and proceed with the selection process amidst the global health pandemic which affects so many of us disproportionately Black America.

It might make us come to an agreement with someone who would call it, “A Plandemic”- it did not come from God and I think we can agree on that and neither did any of these traditions we celebrate today.

This institution of racism and white supremacy can’t be tolerated any longer…. I’m not just talking about the Christopher Columbus statue, Ceasar Rodney or Thanksgiving.

I’m talking about these traditions of hate and protection for racists and racism. See Thomas Webster IV.

I’m talking about policing and police brutality including killings which result from over policing, militarization, jump-out, stop and frisk, task-force Tuesdays and all kinds of unreasonable search and seizures just because we are Black, historically mass-incarcerated, impoverished and live over Northside, or down River or over East or West or basically anywhere we exist.

They even harass and beat poor BLACK people up downtown in the business district- who trained them to do that?

The Chief said in-person meetings with recruits were conducted virtually, testing occurred with social distancing measures in place, and the application timeline was extended to ensure adherence to travel restrictions and other public health guidance.

But whose worried about OUR HEALTH?

OUR SURVIVAL?

OUR DIRECTION?

“The recruitment and hiring process for this historic academy class was perhaps like no other,” said Chief Tracy. “I am proud of the resilience of our department’s command staff and the Human Resources Division, as they navigated these uncertain times to ensure our recruitment and hiring processes continued and that we are able to maintain staffing levels that allow for continued and uninterrupted service to the public.”

Our culture and our future demands that we start giving ourselves an opportunity to grow and to thrive. We don’t need to be over-policed by an occupying force from who know’s where? This academy class will not be the last and it will be just like every other.

Donald Trump will not be our last racist president. Mike Purzycki won’t be our last capitalist mayor. . I am proud of OUR resilience as a community up against so much oppression disguised as a smiling counter to our own miscategorized criminality and perceived unruliness. I was told that I was resisting more than once. They charged me for the crime- the courts threw it out. We’re going to keep resisting and we’re going to need your help. You can’t be afraid to be what they might call loud or even disorderly when the time calls for it.

Plan

PROTEST!

PETITION!

PLEDGE!

PROVOKE!

PROMOTE!

EMPOWER!

In service to the public

Respectfully yours,

Community Councilman

Davon “D” Marque Hall

To learn more about the Wilmington Police Department’s hiring process, and to contact a recruiter about future hiring processes, visit www.wilmingtonde.gov/government/public-safety/wilmington-police-department/join-the-wilmington-police-department.

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