May 15, 2019 by dcodp

Bill proposed to reinstate death penalty

After almost three years without the death penalty since the Delaware Supreme Court declared the Delaware statute unconstitutional in 2016, several lawmakers are proposing again to reinstate the death penalty [link to article]. Please call your state legislators and urge them to oppose the death penalty reinstatement bill (bill number not yet assigned). To locate your legislators’ contact information, go to Who Is My Legislator? on the Delaware General Assembly website.

September 16, 2017 by dcodp

DPIC Study Finds No Evidence that Death Penalty Deters Murder or Protects Police

DPIC_Study_Does_the_Death_Penalty_Deter_Murder A Death Penalty Information Center analysis of U.S. murder data from 1987 through 2015 has found no evidence that the death penalty deters murder or protects police. Instead, the evidence shows that murder rates, including murders of police officers, are consistently higher in death-penalty states than in states that have abolished the death penalty. And far from experiencing increases in murder rates or open season on law enforcement, the data show that states that have abolished the death penalty since 2000 have the lowest rates of police officers murdered in the line of duty and that killings of police account for a much smaller percentage of murders in those states.

For further information, click here.

November 17, 2014 by dcodp

Law Enforcement Speakers Make Powerful Case for Ending the Death Penalty

We heard very inspiring, powerful words from Police Commissioner George Kain and retired police investigator Terry Dwyer at the DCODP Annual Meeting tonight. Both of them began as death penalty supporters. They realized through research and observation of how the legal system really works, that the death penalty is poor public policy. If you weren’t able to come tonight, you can hear them Tuesday 11/18 at the DE Repeal Town Hall meeting at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Bear, DE. They will be joined by Police Chief James Abbott and retired police officer John Breckinridge, whose partner was murdered in CT.