Dover Police Department Launches Quality of Life Initiative to Promote Safety, Well-being, and Improve Conditions

The Dover Police Department is announcing the launch of a special Quality of Life Initiative, a program focused on addressing the mounting community concerns regarding “quality of life” issues in the Capitol City.  This program is designed to help make our city a safer and more welcoming place for everyone who lives in, works in, or visits Dover.

This initiative will focus on important issues affecting the quality of life in the city.  Special attention will be paid to connecting individuals experiencing mental health and substance use issues with essential support, reducing homelessness through targeted outreach, and ensuring the safety of Dover’s public spaces.  Supported by other team members in cooperating City Departments and our partner agencies, the DPD seeks to reduce lewd, disorderly, and destructive behaviors.  It also seeks to create an improved environment for all community members to encourage the growth of Dover as a safe and vibrant city.

The Dover Police Department will be working with the following Strategic Partners to make this initiative a success:

-The Dover Community
-Delaware Department of Justice
–Delaware State University Police Department
–Delaware State Capitol Police Department
–Delaware State Police
-Departments of the City of Dover including Planning & Inspections, the Office of the Fire Marshal, the Office of the Emergency Manager & Public Information, Parks and Recreation, and the Dover Library
-Identified Outreach Organizations, including the Dover Police Department’s Behavioral Health Unit and the Delaware Department of Substance Abuse and Mental Health

While all of our partnerships have their place, the most important partner is you, the community.  Community involvement is essential to the success of this initiative.  You have a voice, and we want to hear it!  We have established a website for you to share concerns and report any non-emergency issues that you believe impact the safety and well-being of Dover.

To provide information on these issues, you can visit www.doverpolice.org/QOL or you can take advantage of our non-emergency reporting number of 302-736-7111.  As always, please call 911 if there is a true emergency. 

This initiative is going to be a continued effort with no set timeline.  However, regular performance evaluations on the impact of this initiative will help ensure that these efforts have a lasting, positive impact on Dover’s quality of life.

Chief Thomas Johnson Jr. commented, “I first want to thank everyone who has helped make this effort possible.  We are excited to deploy this initiative as we try to do our part to improve conditions.  This balanced operation will prioritize empathy and offer options to at-risk individuals so enforcement action might not be necessary.  That said, when the totality of the circumstances dictate an enforcement action, we will do just that.  We see this as a problem solving exercise that brings in innovative and alternative solutions to supplement traditional law enforcement operations.”