Wilmington Releases Additional Portions Of The Wilmington Police Department Policy Manual

From the City of Wilmington:

August 21, 2020

Today’s release involves more than 30 directives in Chapter 6; within a few weeks, the entire manual will have been made available online for public review

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki and Police Chief Robert J. Tracy today released additional sections of the Wilmington Police Department’s Policy and Procedures Manual. In the past two months, seven of the eight chapters of the manual have been released in their entirety. Portions of the remaining chapter—Chapter 6, which is the manual’s largest section with more than 70 directives—are being released as soon as confidential police investigative procedures are redacted.

Mayor Purzycki and Chief Tracy, who have pledged their support for racial and criminal justice reforms, said the more residents know about policing policies and procedures, the more comfortable they can be with policing operations—and that, they noted, will hopefully translate into even more cooperation among City police officers and residents.

The more than 30 additional policies being released today cover a broad range of topics, including uniforms and equipment; traffic investigations and enforcement; incident command protocol; the department’s early warning system; and communicable diseases, among other subjects.

The Mayor today commended the Law and Police Departments for moving swiftly this summer to review and release the eight chapters of the manual, which marks the first time in the City’s history that the complete book of police policy and procedures has been made public. The WPD Policy Manual, which is posted online, may be viewed or downloaded here.

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.