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Wilmington councilwoman highlights new Office of Community Safety, cites Newark model
Summary
Councilwoman Cynthia Oliver said Wilmington has established an Office of Community Safety and funded a director, and that the council will expand a community public safety initiative modeled on Newark’s Community Street Team to other parts of the city.
Wilmington councilwoman Cynthia Oliver said Wednesday that the City Council and Mayor John Corney have established an Office of Community Safety and funded a director to lead the city’s community-based violence-prevention work.
Oliver, who introduced herself as the councilwoman for Wilmington’s 3rd District, told attendees that "We, the members of Wilmington City Council, are aware of the epidemic of violence that has not only affected our communities here in Wilmington, but has been felt across our nation, especially in the black and brown communities." She said the council recognizes there is no single solution but is committed to confronting the problem.
Oliver said the new office and director role are part of that approach. "Together, Wilmington City Council and the mayor has taken a step forward by establishing an office of community safety and funding a director of community safety to lead this critical effort," she said. She added that the council plans to expand CPSI programs — the community public safety initiative she credited earlier in her remarks — to other areas of the city in coordination with the new office.
Oliver said a 2021 visit to Newark, New Jersey, to meet Akhil Shireel and the Newark Community Street Team helped shape Wilmington’s approach. "They were the inspiration to our community public safety initiative here in Wilmington, which has been beneficial to our city," she said, adding that the Newark model led to crime reduction there according to her remarks.
The transcript records Oliver closing by thanking residents. Near the end of the excerpt, another speaker identified herself as "Xanthia Iler, your councilwoman for the 3rd District." The transcript does not explain the duplication of the same district identification earlier in the remarks.
Oliver framed the city’s effort as an investment in community-based strategies intended to create "safer neighborhoods and stronger communities throughout the city." She did not specify the funding source for the director position or provide a timeline for expanding CPSI programs.
The remarks focused on the new office, the director post and intent to scale community public safety programs; no motions or formal votes were recorded in the provided excerpt.
