Democrats appreciate the necessity in prioritizing public safety and understand how a compassionate justice system adds to its success. We know that our approach to public safety must be comprehensive and conscious of historic inequities. We seek to rebuild the bonds of trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve through meaningful partnerships and collaborative reforms. We must combat violence against women and work to reduce gun violence — especially the urban gun violence epidemic in our biggest cities — through the passage of common sense gun safety laws and a continued emphasis on prevention.
Treating Gun Violence as a Public Health Crisis: Gun violence is a public health crisis in Delaware, and demands a public health — and not merely a public safety — solution. Delaware Democrats support common sense gun safety measures while respecting reasonable gun ownership and the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding, responsible gun owners. To that end, we support strong prevention policies such as implementing a permit to purchase system, regulating ghost guns, disarming domestic abusers, and reducing firearm magazine capacity — and the funding to successfully implement them. We recognize that the safest states are ones with strong laws that support well-run community intervention programs that embody a collective, grassroots, and preventative approach. Delaware Democrats acknowledge the epidemic of gun violence, will ensure investment in community-led violence intervention models with proven evidenced-based programming, street outreach and hospital-based violence intervention programs, as well as supporting investment in community cultural services, robust educational resources, and concise communication with the community.
Police Reform: Delaware Democrats believe in transparency and accountability for all police officers in the state. Reforms supported by the Party include requiring the use of body cameras; ending practices that perpetuate racial profiling; creating Civilian Review Boards to offer community oversight on police misconduct and use of force violations; releasing law enforcement disciplinary records to the public; implementing a statewide use of force standard; require that new technologies are fairly implemented and used without racial and gender bias; and requiring agencies to record and publish data on use of force incidents. We believe in ensuring that law enforcement agencies have the resources needed to implement much-needed reforms while addressing crime and tying these increases to accountability mechanisms to make it easier to remove problem officers from the force. We will work to repeal the Law Enforcement Officer Bill of Rights, which will help to ensure racial justice in our state and will help to repair relationships between communities of color and the police.
Ending Violence Against Women: Delaware, home of the author of the Violence Against Women Act, must be committed to combating violence against women. We also believe in the eradication of all forms of human trafficking and modern slavery, including the commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor of men, women, and children. We need to ensure protections and services for survivors of violence and trafficking, and implement measures to ensure that we are not criminalizing the victim and that all victims receive the care they need to make a fresh start.