Client Spotlight: Jeremy McDole Police Reform

After the killing of a Wilmington, Delaware citizen named Jeremy McDole, an organization called Jeremy McDole Police Reform has risen up to combat what they believe to be abuse of power by the Wilmington Police Department.

Background

On Sept. 23, 2015, Jeremy McDole—a paraplegic man—was shot and killed by police in Wilmington, Delaware. Police were dispatched to a call where a man had apparently fired a gun in a street. Officers arrived to find McDole sitting in his wheelchair, who they claimed had a gun. Officers instructed McDole to raise his hands, but moments later, Senior Corporal Joseph Dellose fired his shotgun, which resulted in other officers firing as well. The officers claimed that he reached for his waist. McDole was dead on the scene. 

Both the Attorney General’s Office and the Delaware state department decided to not file any charges against the officers after their investigations. The McDole family reached a $1.5 million settlement, but for Keandra McDole, Jeremy’s sister, it was never about the money.  

It was time to go a step further.

Birth of Organization

Jeremy McDole Police Reform is focused on enacting real police reform while protecting black and brown communities. The main priorities include:

• Establishing community response teams
• Hiring outside consultants to review the police department’s policies and procedures
• Making sure every officer is required to provide information about a community review board

Kristina Kelly, a childhood friend of Jeremy, is one of the three founding members of the police reform team, along with Keandra McDole and Councilwoman Shané Darby. 

In a heartfelt conversation, Kristina laid it all to bare. “I had my first day at a brand new school … and Jeremy was the very first person to walk up to me that day and quite literally wrapped his arm around me and introduced me to all his friends. It stuck with me for 20 years.”

A main focus within the next few months is to hire an outside consultant to evaluate the Wilmington Police Department’s policies and procedures. 

Outside of their police reform team, Keandra and Kristina had their hands in Delaware Senate Bill 149, a piece of legislation aiming to remove a confidentiality clause that will result in both past and future police records being open to the public. The clause in question can be found in the Delaware’s Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights (LEOBOR).

According to Kristina, their work so far has been met with opposition by the Delaware Fraternal Order of Police. 

“A part of the big reason why we decided to go ahead and do this is because SB 149 so far has failed,” Kristina said. 

Roadblocks

As mentioned earlier, the officers involved in the shooting were never charged in a court of law. Kristina believes that this is due to Delaware’s LEOBOR. This statute ensures that no law-enforcement agencies need to disclose personnel files and internal investigation findings to the public. Because of this roadblock, it’s hard for citizens to know who exactly is protecting their communities.

“Our goal is to eradicate LEOBOR, and to have accountability for police officers [who] act negligently or maliciously,” Kristna said. 

Kristina sees LEOBOR as a tool that protects bad cops from being held accountable by the community. For instance, if an officer’s record of misconduct is restricted, then citizens will be totally unaware of the potential damage that officer can inflict upon the community in the future.

“I’m actually the niece of a state trooper,” Kristina said, “so my whole thing has always been that, if you are a good cop that’s doing [what’s] right day in and day out, I would think that you would want the bad cops to be exposed and gotten rid of.”

The Future

The team is just starting out, so they haven’t yet achieved their overarching goals, but optimism and determination are still driving their hearts. 

“We are just getting off of the ground, and actually, our billboards are the first big thing that we’re actually doing, so it’s a wonderful way to introduce ourselves.”

Check their website and Facebook page for any further news, events and ways that you can help their cause.