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Nathan Field

Candidate for District 8

Responses to Wilmington Police Reform Survey

Will you vote to make all police disciplinary records public, and push for changes in state law necessary to make that possible?

Yes

Will you vote for an ordinance prohibiting Wilmington police from engaging in civil asset forfeiture?

I support ending this practice but I believe that efforts should be focused on the State level as this matter does not fall under City Council jurisdiction. I will support efforts by State legislatures to prohibit this practice. 

Will you vote for Wilmington police to collect and publish data, including by race, on all pedestrian and traffic stops they conduct, including the reason for the stop?

Yes

Will you vote in favor of periodic psychological evaluations of Wilmington police officers? Will you vote for funds to mental health support for officers?

Yes

Will you vote for issuing all Wilmington Police officers body cameras?

Yes

Since police officers are public servants, do you believe footage from arrest and police misconduct should be made public record?

Yes

If elected would you create and/or vote yes on an ordinance to end “no knock warrants”?

Since this is a matter that is outside of the authority of the City, ending “no knock warrants” should be addressed by the State legislature.  I will support efforts at the State level to do so. 

Will you vote in favor of ending Operation Safe Streets, which utilizes aggressive policing tactics to harass Wilmington families and community members?

I would closely examine the practices of Operation Safe Streets and strongly support a reform plan that eliminates any aggressive and improper tactics.  They should be replaced by systematic community policing, featuring officers walking the beat on a regular basis and establishing positive working relationships with members of the community based on trust and good faith.  

Will you vote in favor of a community review board that has the power to investigate incidents and complaints, audit policy compliance, has hiring and firing authority, and make records and hearings public to the greatest extent possible?

Yes

Will you require and fund Wilmington Police to operate a pre-arrest diversion program for people with substance abuse issues (a model similar to New Castle County’s Hero Help)?

Yes

Communities of color in Wilmington have borne the brunt of aggressive policing and war on crime policies for decades. Those communities also bear the scars of decades of discrimination in housing, education, and access to economic opportunity. What will you do as a Council member, Mayor, or treasurer to repair that harm?

In terms of pure policing strategy, we need to implement more systematic community policing, with officers walking the beat in the neighborhoods and working to establish relationship with residents based on trust and mutual respect.  We need to deemphasize “technology” in favor of restoring the “human connection.”    This was implemented to some extent in West Center City for a time but could produce positive results if attempted across the whole city.  Economically, we need to focus much more attention on the areas of Wilmington such as the North East Section, the Maryland Avenue & 4th Street/Lancaster Ave corridor stretches,  or the East side, once former factory areas, which have seen a tremendous loss of jobs in the post-Industrial economy.   This economic decline has disproportionately harmed communities of color.  I will strongly favor economic development efforts that aim to bring jobs to these areas in particular and explicitly favor City residents.  And in terms of housing and social services, we need to think deeply about how we can refocus our energies in more creative ways to address past inequities. The Teen WareHouse and REACH Riverside are two examples of this that I will strongly support while looking for new efforts to complement these projects.