Take Action to End Operation Safe Streets
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“They’re cowboys. They make vice cops look like choir boys. These guys play fast and loose … They’re simply using their job title to violate the Fourth Amendment.”
The Wilmington Police Department’s Operation Safe Streets (OSS) is a partnership with the Delaware Department of Correction (DOC) that allows police and probation officers to jointly police those on probation and, by extension, their family, neighbors, coworkers, and friends. OSS has been operating in Wilmington since 1997, ruling the streets and instilling fear into the residents in Delaware’s largest city.
The ACLU of Delaware conducted an extensive research project into the history, operations, and effectiveness of OSS, and we’ve compiled our findings into a story that paints a clear picture: OSS’s extreme tactics fail to improve public safety while causing deep and substantial damage to Wilmington’s Black and Brown communities.
Our communities deserve to live without fear of surveillance, harassment, and abuse by police and probation officers. We must end the abuse of power that fuels OSS.
Wilmington City Council and New Castle County Council have the power to end their Operation Safe Streets programs. We need you to write to your city or county officials and ask them to END OSS NOW.
Read our full story online at ACLU-DE.org/OSS.
