Millsboro Police Annual Report 2023

Posted: March 11 2024
CHIEF’S MESSAGE

On behalf of the staff of the Millsboro Police Department it is my honor to submit our annual report. This report will serve as a summary of our accomplishments, achievements, and initiatives of 2023. Furthermore, this report will summarize various data collected during this calendar year.

In 2023 the Millsboro Police Department continued with the construction of our new police station. Through the support of the Millsboro Town Council, and from the support of our community, our agency is hopeful to be operating in our new building in the spring of 2024. The members of the Millsboro Police Department are looking forward to moving to our new building, as we plan to host several community events at our new location.

Additionally, this year our department was proud to continue our annual youth police academy. In 2023 year, our department was able to continue this program with a cadet strength of 25 participates. This program continues to be successful through the support from our local businesses, and through grant funding. Through the leadership of Sgt. Jonanthan Zubrowski, and Corporal John Wharton this program provides cadets with an inside look into law enforcement, while also providing many life lessons on leadership and accountability. Through the hard work of Sgt Jonathan Zubrowski, and Cpl. John Wharton cadets continue to participate in this program at no cost.

In the spring 2023, our department was able to continue our Bike Rodeo Program held at the Millsboro Lowes. Through this program our department continued our partnership with the Delaware Department of Transportation, through educating our youth on bicycle safety, and providing free bicycle helmets, and lights to children who attend. Grant funds through the Delaware Criminal Justice Council was allocated to purchase all bicycle safety equipment. The Millsboro Police Department was able to continue our holiday campaign titled "Whiskers for Wishes”. With the support of our community and our business partners, our agency was able to raise over $5,974. Funds through this program sponsored eleven needy families in 4 Millsboro during the holiday season. Our agency would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Millsboro Grace Methodist Church for the continued success of this program. In 2023, the Millsboro Police Department continued our commitment to public safety by to focusing our efforts on being fully staffed with 21 sworn officers. Through the support of the Millsboro Town Council, our agency will continue to work towards recruiting new officers who are ready to meet the challenge of public service.

The Millsboro Police Department continues to use the data approach for reported crime and issues regarding traffic safety. Our agency continues to strive to ensure we are deploying our resources to any emerging crime, and to traffic safety trends to improve the quality of life for our residents.

I hope you enjoy our report, and I hope you find the information provided to be informative. Additionally, I want to thank the members of the Millsboro Town Council, our community members, and the men and women of our department, because together we can create a safe environment for our Millsboro community. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to seeing you at one of our future events.

Respectfully,
Brian K. Calloway
Mission of the Millsboro Police Department

The Millsboro Police Department is committed to enhancing the quality of life by creating a safe environment in partnership with the community we serve. Members of the Millsboro Police Department will act with integrity to reduce fear and crime while treating all with respect, compassion, and fairness.

Values

Community: A strong partnership with the community is a cornerstone of the agency mission statement. We believe each citizen, business, and visitor is a vital and essential stakeholder in our community. We strive to reduce fear and crime via a pathway of community engagement.

Courage: In the face of fear and uncertainty we shall triumph in our efforts to protect life and property.

Honor: We strive to encompass strict adherence to our mission statement and agency rules of conduct while illustrating high moral character in all we do. We do not take lightly the oath we have taken and the responsibilities bestowed upon us.

Integrity: Doing the right thing in all circumstances, even when no one else is around. We aspire to be pillars in the community and set the example for others.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART


PATROL UNIT

Law enforcement consists of many diverse activities which are directed toward attainment of departmental objectives. Activities such as patrolling and conducting field interviews are not objectives in themselves; they are methods of preventing and deterring crime and arresting offenders. Decisions in law enforcement operations must be made instantaneously, and the lives of officers and others may depend upon the quality of those decisions. An officer is confronted with both criminal and non-criminal behavior, and must be capable of making a reasonable response in both cases. In either instance, an officer must base conduct and action upon the facts of the situation as they appear, relying upon experience, training, and judgment as guides to legal decisions and actions. As a primary function of the Millsboro Police Department, patrol procedures consist of activities beyond patrol itself. Patrol, due to its generalized nature, will overlap a variety of law enforcement functions, including the enforcement of criminal and traffic laws, responding to complaints and other calls for service, as well as engaging in crime prevention and community relations activities.

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS

The Millsboro Police Department's Criminal Investigation Unit is charged with the primary function of investigating all crimes of a more serious nature, including but not limited to Homicide, Robbery, Burglary, Felony Thefts, Sex Crimes, Aggravated Assaults, Drug Violations, Vice, Organized Crime, Intelligence Activities, and performing liaison with and providing assistance to other law enforcement agencies or elements of the criminal justice system. The objective of the Criminal Investigation Unit is to clear all such cases culminating with the arrest of the perpetrator, to exonerate those persons who have been falsely accused of a crime and to recover stolen property. The Detective’s position has been established as a specialized officer with the responsibility for handling those criminal investigations which require special expertise, or because of their complexity or for geographical considerations do not lend themselves readily to completion by patrol officers.

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Chief of Police - The overall job function of the Chief of Police is administrative and supervisory in nature with an emphasis on the development of policy and procedures, Rules and Regulations, and budgetary controls.

Accreditation Manager - The primary job function of the Accreditation Manager is to prepare policies, directives, and procedure statements, and review those prepared by others, to ensure that they meet CALEA standards. In addition, the Accreditation Manager is tasked with organizing and maintaining CALEA files, including updating of proofs of compliance as required by accreditation standards.

Victim Services Specialist - The Victim Services Specialist is a civilian employee who reports directly to the Chief of Police. They provide appropriate assistance to victims who have been traumatized or who express specific, credible reasons for needing further assistance in dealing with their personal victimization or the death of a loved one.

Police Clerk - The Police Clerk is a civilian employee who serves as the Chief’s administrative assistant. The Police Clerk reports directly to the Chief of Police.

School Resource Officer - The primary job function of the School Resource Officer (SRO) is to administer structured curriculum programs in public schools in the Millsboro community. The curriculum is designed to teach children the risk of using drugs and/or alcohol, methods for avoiding high risk situations and self-esteem. The SRO will be available to provide counseling for students and teachers in areas deemed necessary by the SRO and/or the school administrators. The SRO will act as a positive role model for the students in their schools and mentor them when the opportunity arises. In addition, the SRO shall administer
public programs and presentations on a wide variety of crime prevention and community-oriented topics.

DATA TABLES

Town of Millsboro Resident Totals
In 2021, Millsboro ranked #1 out of the 25 Sussex County cities for number of residential building permits issued (6-year total), according to the 2021 Report on State Planning Issues. As of 2023, this still appears to be holding true, due to the continual increase in population. The source for the statistics in population size for years 2018 -2023 is www.worldpopulationreview.com.

Millsboro PD Report Totals
5-year cycle of incidents reported to the agency.

Property Damage and Personal Injury Totals
5-year cycle of reported crashes within town limits.

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
5-year cycle utilizing incident-based reporting system used by law enforcement agencies in the United States for collecting and reporting data on crimes.

Traffic Summons Totals
5-year tally of data collected for traffic tickets issued.

Criminal Arrest Totals
5-year tally of data collected for criminal arrests, both felonious and misdemeanors.

Response to Resistance
During the year of 2023, the Millsboro Police Department handled 5,5,927 calls for service. During these calls for service, only 20 calls resulted in officers having to use some degree of physical force during the incident. This reveals that only 0.34% of our officers’ interactions with the public resulted in force being used. There were 20 response to resistance incidents in total, but 1 was due to having to put down a sick or injured animal.

The demographic breakdown of the response reports is black male 56%, white female 19%, black female 6%, white male 19%. Suspects ranging in age from 18-25 accounted for 38% of the data.
 
Internal Department Data
Citizen Complaints & Internal Affairs

There were four citizen complaints filed against officers and five internal affairs investigations during 2023. The graph below is a breakdown of how these were resolved.


New Police Station

In 2023, construction continued on the new police department building. Located at the corner of Railroad Ave. and Ellis Street, the new building will be approximately 12,500 square feet. It will include a training/community room, sallyport, individual prisoner holding cells, weight room and a community basketball court. This will allow the police department to grow and provide effective services as the Town of Millsboro continues to see population increase.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Polar Bear Plunge- Officers took the icy plunge in the Atlantic to support Special Olympics Delaware. Officers were able to raise money with the support of the community partners.

Law Enforcement Torch Run- Millsboro officers were part of more than 500 members of Delaware Law Enforcement agencies who ran the "Flame of Hope," across the great State of Delaware to benefit Special Olympics.

Halloween Night Out - Our "Night Out” event which offers children a chance to meet and talk with our officers along with other first responders while also getting a few sweets.

Whiskers for Wishes - This was our 8th year of the campaign and community support continues to increase every year. We were able to raise $5,974 and make Christmas special for multiple families in our community.

Coffee with a Cop - The Millsboro Police Department partnered with Starbucks in order to host this community event, where town residents can sit down with an officer and chat over a cup of coffee.

Youth Bike Rodeo - The Millsboro Police Department sponsors a bicycle safety event, that focuses on providing children with bicycle safety gear and an obstacle course for kids to practice safe bicycle riding.

Youth Police Academy - Sgt. Jonathan Zubrowski organized the Millsboro Police Department’s Youth Police Academy. Which offers middle school students an opportunity to receive a firsthand experience of how the criminal justice system operates. This was hugely successful and very well received by parents, the participating students and CALEA assessors.

Drug Disposal - This program was suspended early in 2023. But the department intends on reestablishing the program once the agency moves into and settles down in the new police station in 2024.

Active Threat Training

During December, the Millsboro Police Department hosted a multiagency training event, located at the Millsboro Middle School. This training simulated an active assailant and focused on how multiple responding agencies would link up and operate during a crisis in a school environment. This afforded officers, school staff and medical personnel an opportunity to train on combined tactics, communication methods and incident command. Those involved included Millsboro Police officers, fire fighters, EMS, Sussex County Paramedics, SUSCOM mobile command, Indian River School District Constables and student role players.


CALEA Accreditation

In 2023, the Millsboro Police Department completed its’ second year, of the four-year accreditation cycle. The Millsboro Police Department is accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). 

Every year, the Millsboro Police Department is assessed on a selection of standards set forth by CALEA, in order to ensure the agency is adhering to national, police best practices. The Millsboro Police Department passed this assessment period successfully and is currently working on the 6th certificate of accreditation.

PROMOTIONS & AWARDS
The following employees were recognized during 2023.

Promotions
The following officers were promoted during 2023:
  • Cody Jackson, Cody Justice, Brian Jones, Travis Shockley and Cole Revel were all promoted to Patrolman First Class
  • Dallas Millner to Corporal
  • Christopher Ebke to Senior Corporal
  • Jonathan Zubrowski to Sergeant


Awards - Performance Commendations
  • PFC Cody Justice (nominated by Sgt. Patrick Forester)
  • PFC Travis Shockley (nominated by Sgt. Jonathan Zubrowski)



Life Saving Awards
  • S/Cpl. Seth Bullock
  • Cpl. John Wharton
  • Cpl. Dallas Millner
  • PFC Cody Jackson
  • PFC Cody Justice
  • PFC Cole Revel
  • PFC Travis Shockley


Officer of the Year
  • S/Cpl. Seth Bullock


SUMMARY

Millsboro Police Department staff work 24 hours a day, every day, to maintain a safe and viable community for those who call Millsboro home, work in town, patronize a local business as well as those who are passing through. We strive to combat crime and reduce fear building upon our strong commitment to stakeholders in the community.

Maintaining a strong community partnership remains a priority for the agency. Our mission is to foster and build relationships through the many community outreach events we participate in. Officers continue to learn new techniques and methodologies to assist in the community during training sessions throughout the year.

The agency continues to utilize social media as a platform for outreach. Our many events are posted to social media as well as safety information throughout the year. Additionally, our social media audience has been instrumental in identifying persons of interest in investigations.

In 2024, we will continue to focus on our mission of community engagement and the reduction of fear and crime while seeking ways to best utilize our resources to improve relationships with our stakeholders. We will also continue to implement and adhere to the best practices in law enforcement as an accredited CALEA agency. 

As Millsboro continues to grow, we will continue our focus on data analysis in order to provide the most efficient use of personnel in order to combat crime and respond to calls for service.

Thank you for your continued support!