Keeping our communities safe, together

Two murders – one apparently ending with a suicide and the other still unsolved – sent a general sense of uneasiness through Delaware’s Cape Region this week. They stole into our lives as summer officially arrived with a heat wave reminding us that it’s summer, and the population of our coastal communities will swell to many times its winter size.

Violent murders put us on alert no matter what time of year they happen, but they are particularly unsettling now for our resort towns whose economies depend so heavily on attracting people for vacations and good times. Our Cape Region communities work hard to ensure our security infrastructure is solid – and it is. Our municipal governments understand and take seriously their responsibility to provide safe communities.

Still, all of us in the Cape Region feel the effect of these crimes. Though we say we live in different communities, we are bound by our schools, churches, jobs and recreation. This coastal community is tightly knit in its service to our visitors.

We are not apart; we all want to know what we can do to ease the stress in the aftermath of these violent deaths.

Sharing information is one of the most important things our leaders can do to promote calm. The more informed we are, the better positioned we are to make good decisions to protect ourselves and our neighbors. In Dewey Beach, the mayor and police confirmed the murder appeared to be an isolated incident, not a random assault. People want to know these things.

In that case, the suicide of the primary suspect appears to have ended fears that a criminal is still among us.

In the Gumboro murder, it remains unclear whether the crime is an isolated one. Police in Delaware and Maryland are working the case hard, but as long as no suspects are named, the public remains suspicious of many.

The public must have confidence in its police and security infrastructure. Police can foster confidence by providing reliable and timely information as soon as they possibly can.

If we all join forces with police to remain alert for safety problems, and work cooperatively to keep a lid on the pressures of summer, we can all help to ensure a safe community.