Captain Richard C. Pulling
Delaware State Police Troop 6 has been a fixture in the Prices
Corner area of Wilmington for the past 29 years. Troop 6 has an
authorized strength of fifty-two sworn troopers and three civilians.
Troop 6 is currently under the command of Captain Richard C.
Pulling, Lieutenant Michael Wintermantel and Lieutenant Peter
Sawyer. The four shifts at Troop 6 are led by sergeants, perhaps the
most important rank within DSP, and include Sergeant Jeff Giles,
Sergeant Doug Deveney, Sergeant Jack Tsai and Acting Sergeant Jeff
Smith. The troop is supported daily by two administrative
assistants, Joni Melvin and Donna Haines and a troop mechanic, Scott
Ferguson.
Troop 6 has policing responsibility for approximately 82 square
miles of northwestern New Castle County from the Wilmington city
limits west to Maryland, and north to Pennsylvania. The troop area
is very diverse racially, ethnically and economically, with an
estimated population of approximately 225,000 people. The policing
responsibility in the troop territory is shared with several other
police departments; Elsmere Police Department, New Castle County
Police Department, Newport Police Department, Newark Police
Department and the University of Delaware Police Department.
The uniform and civilian staff at Troop 6 provide professional,
courteous services to the citizens they serve. The troopers assigned
to Troop 6 are young, energetic and highly motivated professionals
who perform above and beyond on a daily basis. The troopers manage a
criminal and traffic complaint load that is traditionally the
highest in the state. It is no easy task for the uniform side of the
house, nor is it easy for the civilian staff to process the workload
of the troopers in the field. The civilian staff is the backbone of
the DSP and without their support the uniform side of the house
could not function.
Troopers at Troop 6 respond to approximately 36,000 calls for
service each year, involving more than 24,000 criminal complaints
and the investigation of nearly 3,000 automobile crashes.
Tragically, sixteen (16) people lost their lives on the highways of
Troop 6 during 2008. Pedestrian violations, motorcycle violations,
speed and alcohol were the primary contributing factors in the vast
majority of the deaths. It is the philosophy of DSP that aggressive
traffic enforcement has a direct correlation related to a decrease
in fatal accidents. To that end, troopers at Troop 6 issued nearly
20,000 traffic citations including nearly 10,000 that were for
aggressive driving behavior, a leading cause of traffic fatalities
in Delaware.
Troop 6 personnel have distinguished themselves over the past few
years at crime scenes by taking the time to thoroughly process crime
scenes for forensic fingerprint evidence. Troop 6 developed more
latent fingerprints of value at crime scenes than any other patrol
troop. When the prints were entered in the Automated Fingerprint
Identification System Troop 6 had twice as many suspects identified
than any other patrol troop statewide. This is just another example
of the quality work performed by Troop 6 personnel.
Two high profile homicides occurred in the Troop 6 area in 2008. In
May 2008, Malak Sam Michael, was shot and killed at the Christiana
Hilton in the Newark area. The incident occurred in one of the
meeting rooms during a private fund raiser for a local church group.
The suspect in the case was physically apprehended at the scene by
family members of the victim at the party, and by all accounts
prevented a significant loss of life. The case is pending trial in
New Castle County.
In August 2008, Kanubhai Patel, was shot and killed during a robbery
in the parking lot of the Christiana Skating Center near Newark
during the early morning hours. The suspects in the case picked the
victim at random as he was walking to his place of employment. The
Delaware State Police Homicide Unit was able to identify the
suspects within hours through aggressive police work and outstanding
forensic work by the evidence technicians at the scene. The case is
pending in New Castle County.
This is just a snapshot of the rigorous, daily efforts by the
dedicated men and women of Delaware State Police Troop 6 who provide
a safe environment for the citizens of Delaware. The citizens of
Delaware can be assured of quality service and professional
assistance during the years to come.
- Information
obtained from 2008 DSP Annual Report -