Jonathan Starkey

The News Journal

Lt. Gov. Matt Denn tells voters as attorney general he would coordinate efforts to place more police officers from outside Wilmington on foot patrols in high-crime areas of Delaware's largest city.

It's a pillar of the Democrat's campaign plan to combat escalating violence in Wilmington, a focal point of the campaign for attorney general.

Republican Ted Kittila, who is backed by the National Rifle Association and opposes most gun control efforts, wants to see stricter prosecution of gun crimes.

Former state prosecutor Catherine Damavandi, the Green Party candidate, says, if elected, she would target career criminals through the establishment of a unit stocked with the state's most experienced prosecutors.

Dave Graham, a tax auditor and the independent candidate, says he will "work with community leaders" to find ways to tackle the violence.

During a Dover debate on Wednesday, Denn said he wants "more visibility in communities that are having problems with high levels of violent crime," with police getting "out of their cars, interacting with law abiding citizens and also people in the community who are not law abiding."

Recent history suggests that could be easier said than done.

State taxpayers spent more than $2 million between March 2011 and April 2013 to fund Delaware State Police patrol units in high crime areas along Market Street and West Center City neighborhoods.

The effort, dubbed Operation Pressure Point, relied on a dozen troopers volunteering for overtime two-man shifts patrolling overnight on weekends.

Gov. Jack Markell's office, which led the effort, says the patrols were successful, pointing to 173 felony charges, nearly 4,500 traffic violations and the apprehension of 188 fugitives

But state and city officials and the Delaware State Troopers Association, the troopers' union, admit the effort was strained by a lack of proper coordination with Wilmington Police, a reliance on volunteer overtime and limited state financial resources.

"As it stretched on toward the end, it was beginning to be a little bit difficult to get enough guys to volunteer for the overtime to be able to do it," said Lt. Tom Brackin, president of the troopers' association, which has backed Denn's campaign. "It had just gotten to a point where enough was enough."

Denn doubts the patrol operation had the ideal effect – a sustained reduction of violence in neighborhoods where troopers were deployed.

"Part of that can be attributed to the fact that it stopped somewhat abruptly," Denn said in an interview. "It didn't stop because law enforcement felt the problem had been resolved but for other reasons. It ended primarily because the city indicated that it was interested in having the Operation Pressure Point activity stopped."

Wilmington spokeswoman Alexandra Coppadge said the "city did not terminate Operation Pressure Point. Operation Pressure Point concluded in the spring of 2013, as the program was contingent upon state allocated funds, and the funding was no longer available."

Wilmington Mayor Dennis P. Williams and Police Chief Bobby Cummings declined to be interviewed.

Attorney General Beau Biden, who pressed for the State Police patrols in 2011 but has been absent from the public spotlight since surgery to remove a small brain lesion in August 2013, also declined an interview request.

Biden spokesman Joe Rogalsky said the attorney general was busy meeting with people interested in expanding the Port of Wilmington, adding "he's not going to comment on politics right now, he's focused on finishing his term as Attorney General."

Biden, in April, said he would not pursue a third term as attorney general to focus on a race for governor in 2016. That opened the door for Denn, who worked as a lawyer to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner before winning his first statewide race to become Delaware's insurance commissioner in 2004.

He has easily won two elections for lieutenant governor.

It's not surprising that violence in Wilmington has become a focal point of the campaign. Delaware's largest city has recorded 24 homicides this year, perilously close to a record-setting 27 in 2010.

Just three arrests have been made in this year's homicide cases.

Williams and Cummings recently announced the creation of a homicide unit within the Wilmington Police Department to target the low clearance rate.

Damavandi, the former state prosecutor, has been critical of Denn's community policing plan, saying he is promising voters action he's not authorized to deliver as attorney general. The governor controls the Delaware State Police and Wilmington officials ultimately are in control of law enforcement activity inside the city's boundaries.

"The police officer situation, that's not the attorney general's call," Damavandi said in an interview.

Damavandi, a first-time political candidate, and the only one in the race with experience prosecuting cases, has offered a more narrow view of the office. In candidate forums and interviews, Damavandi said she would create a career criminal unit to target the most hardened offender

In September, Damavandi left her job as a deputy attorney general in the state Department of Justice. State law does not allow employees of the Department of Justice to simultaneously campaign for attorney general.

Before leaving, Damavandi worked as an assigned lawyer for the Delaware Human Relations Commission and the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. She previously defended the Department of Correction and prosecuted financial crimes in the office's securities division. Damavandi spent some time prosecuting misdemeanor trials in the Court of Common Pleas but does not have a wealth of criminal experience.

Damavandi said the office should reduce administrative positions – pointing to chief of staff and public information positions she sees as duplicative as examples – and direct additional positions back to the courtroom.

A new unit should target career criminals, those responsible for a bulk of drug-related crime in Wilmington, Damavandi says. She wants to use office resources to promote manufacturing job growth, new jobs she believes would deter crime in Delaware's most violent neighborhoods.

"People who live in those communities, they don't contribute to political campaigns," Damavandi said. "And most of them don't vote. They are the underserved population. Who looks out for them?"

Graham, the independent, is running as a check on the major parties. It's not Graham's first attempt at gaining political office.

In 2008, Graham filed to run as a Republican for governor, but withdrew his candidacy that July. Four years earlier, he came in third in a Republican gubernatorial primary.

Graham said the next attorney general should engage community groups for ideas to reduce violence and help former inmates reenter society.

"While it may take years to undo the damage caused by the destruction of Wilmington's communities, as attorney general, I will work with community leaders, both elected and designated, to come up with a plan to restore the City's Communities," Graham said in response to written questions from The News Journal.

Graham has also criticized Denn for accepting campaign contributions from lawyers in Delaware, saying it presents a potential conflict of interest.

Ted Kittila came to the race late, after top Republicans, including former Congressman and Gov. Mike Castle, failed in attempts to recruit former U.S. Attorney Colm Connolly to run against Denn. Kittila owns and operates his own Wilmington firm – the Greenhill Law Group.

But he says his experience as a practicing lawyer, in contrast to Denn's most recent experience holding political office, would bring a benefit.

"I wanted us to have a real practicing attorney running that office so we can return this office back to being the top law firm in the state of Delaware," Kittila said. "It's got to be run better than what it's being run like now."

Kittila has been critical of Denn for launching the campaign for attorney general, which, if the Democrat wins, would require him to vacate the lieutenant governor's office with two years left in his second term. Delaware's Constitution does not allow voters to elect a replacement, or for the governor to appoint one.

If elected, Kittila said he would continue work to track down child predators, a focus of Biden's two terms. And he also favors getting police officers out of their cars and on the street in high-crime areas.

Contact Jonathan Starkey at 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com.

Candidate Bios

Catherine Damavandi

Party: Green Age : 40

Occupation: Attorney

Education: Master of Laws (Trial Advocacy), Temple University Beasley School of Law; Juris Doctor, Widener University School of Law; Bachelor of Arts, West Chester University of Pennsylvania

Family: Close knit family

Matt Denn

Party: Democrat Age: 48

Occupation: Lieutenant Governor, State of Delaware, 2009 - present; Attorney in private practice 1993-2000, 2003-2004 and on a part-time basis 2009 - present; Legal counsel to the Governor

Education: University of California-Berkeley, B.A. in Political Science and Economics; Yale Law School, J.D.

Family: wife Michele, sons Adam and Zach

Dave Graham

Party: Independent Age: 60

Occupation: Tax Enforcement; Tax Auditor; Trains and Supervises Business Auditors

Education: Graduate of Smyrna High School-College Academic Preparation; Graduate of 1st Armored Division-Europe-NCO Academy; Goldey Beacom College, Associates Degree in Accounting; Goldey Beacom College, Bachelors Degree in Business Management; Dale Carnegie Leadership Certificate; Certified Public Accountant Delaware Certificate No. 602

Family: Daughter, Patricia C. Graham and Nephew-Derek M. Graham-lives with me

Ted Kittila

Party: Republican Age: 40

Occupation: Courtroom Attorney

Education: Seaford Senior High School; University of Delaware – Honors B.A. in International Relations (summa cum laude); Fulbright Scholarship – Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany; University of Minnesota Law School – J.D. (cum laude)

Family: Wife, Anne-Laure P. Kittila; two children – Alex (9) and CC (6)

Read more about the candidate's in our 2014 Voters Guide at http://data.delawareonline.com/webapps/Voters_Guide/