Wilmington staff outline reparations task force recommendations, urge continued state coordination

Wilmington City Council staff presented an update on the Reparations Task Force final report during the Committee of the Whole on March 24, summarizing the task force’s recommendations and the council staff’s suggested next steps for city action and state coordination.

The presentation, led by policy fellow Alyssa Goddard Richardson and Legislative Research and Policy Director Phil Nwanga with additional remarks from Dr. Kendra, reviewed the task force’s findings and four “critical pain points” identified in the approved report: education, housing and economics, health and environment, and legal and civil rights. “In the report that was approved by council, it summarized historical injustices faced by African Americans, and it identified 4 critical pain points,” Alyssa said.

Why it matters: council accepted the task force’s final report in 2024 and staff said several recommendations could be advanced by council action or by coordinating with state initiatives already under way. Council members asked for more detail on actions the city can take now — especially on policing and housing — and for continued engagement with state bodies that are pursuing related racial equity work.

Most immediate recommendations and staff notes

- Public apology and continued racial dialogue: staff reiterated the task force’s recommendation that the city issue a public apology as part of broader racial reconciliation efforts and support ongoing public listening sessions targeted to the four pain points.

- Policing: the report recommends mandated policies and training on bias‑free policing and expanded routine trauma‑informed training for officers. Staff noted the Wilmington Police Department currently provides bias training and crisis intervention training but said trauma‑informed training — which treats interactions as if an individual may have experienced chronic trauma — was not yet routine. Council members asked whether the training recommendations had been discussed with WPD leadership; staff said they had shared sample materials and continued informal outreach with Chief Campos.

- Community violence intervention and police accountability: the task force recommended increased investment in community violence intervention programs, strengthening community‑police relations, and establishing appointments for a Wilmington Community Police Accountability Board. Staff suggested maintaining and potentially expanding the existing Community Public Safety Initiative.

- Criminal‑justice reforms: the task force recommended prohibiting cash bail and compensating people who are acquitted or exonerated. Staff described pending state activity: Senate Bill 12 (Senate Amendment 1) was described as adding transparency to pretrial release and detention decisions; a Senate substitute for Senate Bill 169 was said to be under consideration with a proposed process for compensating wrongfully convicted individuals. Staff said the city could facilitate public engagement about racial disparities in custody and advocate for additional quality‑of‑life indicators to be included in state reporting.

- Corrections and racial disparity monitoring: staff recommended city‑led public engagement and suggested coordination with the Governor’s Council on Corrections or similar state entities to monitor racial disparities in adult and juvenile correctional facilities.

- Legal education and workforce equity: the task force recommended eliminating barriers for African American prospective attorneys by funding legal education and outreach. Staff referenced House Bill 380, a state law establishing a student loan repayment program for public attorneys, and said additional, targeted funding for prospective Black attorneys is not currently funded at the city level.

Coordination with state efforts

Staff urged council to continue partnering with the General Assembly’s African American Task Force and the Racial Equity Consortium (a state‑level consortium noted as active until August 2027) to avoid duplication and amplify work already in progress. Staff recommended the council coordinate with those state entities and consider inviting state subcommittee representatives to report to council committee meetings.

Council response and follow‑up requests

Council members voiced particular interest in housing follow up and in whether staff had reviewed pending litigation or state challenges to DEI‑related measures; staff said litigation was not an explicit focus of the summary presentation but was kept in mind when developing actionable recommendations. Councilmembers also asked for data updates on the city’s Partners in Care pilot (a police‑social worker co‑response program); staff said Partners in Care had issued progress reports and that the program is a limited‑hour pilot with periodic reporting.

Staff asked for council feedback on next steps and said they would return with more detailed implementation options and, where appropriate, suggested model language or ordinances for council consideration.