Jamel Howard grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where summer block parties were commonplace. The festive music, the shared food, the cordoned-off streets — those moments fostered a sense of closeness and belonging, even in the country’s largest city.

Frequent guests at those block parties, he said, were officers from the New York Police Department, who were there to mingle alongside Howard’s family and neighbors.

“I would see the NYPD engaging with the community in ways that I had never seen before,” said Howard, a corporal in the University of Delaware’s Police Department, “and it inspired me to be that kind of officer — the one who people in that community trusted and asked for when they were dealing with a problem.” 

Howard co-leads UD Police’s Community Resource Unit (CRU), which prioritizes proactive policing through education and the development of trusted relationships and a strong sense of community.

The Community Resource Unit has been a fixture in the UD Police Department for the last 20 years, melding community education with policing. Its officers provide seat-belt and car-seat safety checks upon request. They offer bike, ride-share and pedestrian safety tips. The CRU offers several installments of a four-class Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) program, free to UD students. 

In total, the CRU delivers more than 200 safety-related presentations each year on UD’s campus and in communities throughout the state of Delaware. “We never turn down an invitation to speak,” said Master Cpl. Jessica Zeilman, who with Howard co-leads UD Police’s CRU. “Most importantly, we don’t let our PowerPoint slides do the talking. We engage with the audience.” Presentation topics include general safety information, the University’s alcohol and drug amnesty policies, and active-shooter preparedness.

The mission of the CRU, Zeilman said, is unwavering.

“Our aim is to bridge the gap between law enforcement officers and civilians,” she said. “We’re people, too. Every day, we are working hard to network and build trust with our Newark neighbors and with our UD community.”

UD Police’s CRU officers use neighborhood canvasses to meet new and returning UD students, as well as Newark residents. These interactions provide a platform for officers to listen to concerns, answer questions, distribute educational materials — and become trusted allies in the community.

Those daily touchpoints extend to informal conversations on The Green and even large-scale events like Blue and Golden Days open houses or New Student Orientations (NSOs). There, the officers offer safety tips, explain the differences between the UD Alert notification system and the LiveSafe app, and encourage parents of new and prospective Blue Hens to download the latter.

“These are some ways that we meet people,” Zeilman said. “We believe that a conversation can lead to safety education.”

The College School at UD regularly requests visits from the CRU. A grades 1–8 school, the College School is housed within the University’s College of Education and Human Development. Student learning is enhanced by interactions with University faculty and master’s students in education programs, as well as speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists. Zeilman recently met with the students there to affirm the College School’s protocols for active-shooter preparedness and “engaged our students in a thoughtful dialogue on how we might further strengthen the security of our building,” said Andrea Glowatz, the College School’s director. Howard introduced students to the role of police in society.

“Experiences like these are vital in helping young learners better understand and appreciate the role of law enforcement, fostering trust and demystifying police work in a positive, age-appropriate way,” Glowatz said. “We could not be more grateful.”

Added Howard: “With CRU being a forward-facing unit in our department, it gives us a chance on a daily basis to have a good and positive impact on everyone we meet.”