DOVER, DE – After working for 18 months on police reform in Delaware, after hundreds of conversations with community members (and dozens of stories from impacted people), and even after starting the independent project NOCAP Delaware, we’ve decided to take police accountability into our own hands.
On July 1st, Neighbors Organized for Credibility and Accountability in Policing (NOCAP) will pilot an online form where Dover residents can voluntarily share their experiences interacting with police. This includes Dover Police Department, Delaware State Police, Delaware Capitol Police, etc.
Community organizers and activists will begin circulating a business card with a QR code directing people to the online questionnaire. The data will be collected to identify potential trends, create analysis, and serve as a tool in investigative reporting. The form itself is modeled after a form used in Washington, D.C., for the same purpose.
NOCAP is partnering with the independent media project The Delaware Call. All data collected will remain anonymous and known only to the NOCAP project team at the Call under the confidentiality any investigative journalism outfit would provide sources.
This project is motivated by the fact that since 2023, when the Delaware Legislature passed House Bills 205 and 206, which centered on police reform through police accountability boards, very little progress has been made. The lack of transparency surrounding police misconduct carries on to this day.
Many municipalities haven’t even convened a panel to date, and most that have are directed by the police themselves instead of community members, as the law directs. For all intents and purposes, police accountability boards have no more authority than any Delawarean.
Our online form aims to gather useful, actionable information and, eventually, scale this up from a pilot project to a state-wide initiative.
This is a statement from Vonda Smack. She is a Dover-based community organizer and will lead the outreach efforts for this pilot:
As a dedicated community organizer and advocate for justice, I am compelled to speak out against the escalating harassment, intimidation, and threats being directed at the constituents of Dover by members of the City of Dover Police Department. These patterns of misconduct reflect a deeper, systemic failure to respect the civil liberties and human dignity of the very people the police are sworn to protect and serve.
I am told by constituents who have encountered unforgettable moments with the police that they are scared. These acts are a sustained campaign of fear. Targeting of marginalized communities, particularly Black and Brown residents, with aggressive policing, retaliatory tactics, and a lack of transparency. These actions erode public trust and foster a climate of trauma, not safety.
This is precisely why the new data accountability initiative led by NOCAP is not only timely, but essential. This process introduces a community centered framework for documenting and analyzing police interactions using crowdsourced data. NOCAP empowers residents by creating a digital record of misconduct and abuse. This will help us to track patterns, demand accountability, and advocate for evidence-based reform.
This new data collection system brings power back to the people.
We are not naïve. We expect that many, if not most, town officials will disagree with the purpose of this project and dispute any information we gather. That’s fine. In fact, we welcome a very healthy — and very public — debate on the subject.
Contact: Kristina Kelly, [email protected]