After Wilmington City Council approved the use of drug forfeiture funds to purchase new bulletproof vests for the Wilmington Police Department during its Tuesday, Oct. 21 meeting, Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo asked WPD Chief Ralph Evangelous to address the recent shootings in the city.
Tuesday marked the third day in a row of a shooting reported within Wilmington’s city limits and Saffo said he has heard concerns from citizens.
Evangelous acknowledged there has been a strong uptick in gun violence in the south side of the city, where 23-year-old Hisan Polk was shot to death the night of Sunday, Oct. 19, at 15th and Greenfield streets, and near the Creekwood housing community. Monday, Oct. 20, another man was shot in the legs near Creekwood off Princess Place Drive. Tuesday, Oct.21, a man leaving a roadside memorial for Polk was shot in the hand. This string of shootings follows the shooting death September 27 of 26-year-old Martineze Vaughn at a residence in the 100 block of South Ninth Street. Later during the evening of Sept. 27, another shooting occurred at Nun and Eighth streets, however, no one was hurt in that incident. That same night a running gun battle raged along 11 blocks of Dawson Street.
Evangelous said he believes these shootings could be acts of retaliation and that part of the problem could be the recent release of certain repeat offenders.
Evangelous said the WPD has a lot of resources patrolling the streets to address the issues but the witnesses of the crimes and the residents of the neighborhoods where they are occuring have not been forthcoming with information.
“We are out there and have a lot of resources, but we are not getting a lot of cooperation from residents and witnesses,” Evangelous said. “We need to know who these people are and we need the public to help us; you know what is going on, get us the information and we will act on it.”
In addition, Evangelous urged parents and friends of individuals that may be involved in the activity to intervene or call the police before something happens. Evangelous said the department’s Text-A-Tip program is a good tool for those who would like to remain anonymous.
City moves to smart parking meters
In an effort to provide more flexible pay options for visitors to downtown Wilmington, city council approved the allocation of $300,000 from the city’s parking fund balance for the purchase and installment of 460 IPS smart parking meters.
Roger Johnson, special assistant to the city manager, said the meters would improve customer service and account for redevelopment and growth in the Central Business District, northern riverfront and North Fourth Street.
The new meters can accept coins, tokens, credit or debit cards and pay-by-phone methods. Johnson said they could also help the city determine when the meters are most often used via analytics.
Johnson said the order to install would take 90 days and the install would take two weeks. The new meters will be installed along Front Street and Water Street from Red Cross Street south to Ann Street and west of Second Street.
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