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 -