US Attorney General calls Wilmington ‘success story’

Attorney General Loretta Lynch talked about efforts to fight crime in Wilmington during a Wednesday morning Senate Judiciary Committee.

Wilmington is one of 13 U.S. cities taking part in the federal Violence Reduction Network that’s designed to help local governments fight crime with federal help. Other cities in the network include Camden, NJ and Detroit and Flint, Mich. 

During Wednedsay’s committee hearing in Washington, U.S. Senator from Delaware Chris Coons asked Lynch about the program’s impact in Wilmington. “Wilmington, Delaware has been one of our success stories,” Lynch told the committee. She did not offer any specific examples of that success.

Her comments coincide with a particularly violent week in Wilmington, with three shooting deaths since Friday night. Two of those killings were in the same block of W. 7th Street.

“The lessons from the VRN we feel could be very useful to other jurisdictions.” Lynch added, “We have asked for more money in the budget for it for FY ’17.”

“I’m hopeful that the [Dept. of Justice] intends to both continue to support it and extend it,” Coons said. He said he’s “hopeful” that the next annual VRN conference will be held in Wilmington.