Delaware State News
DOVER — At least four reports substantiated by police of school-aged children being approached by unknown men in the Dover and Magnolia areas have occurred since mid-November.
The most recent incident happened Tuesday at about 4 p.m. when a white male driving a four-door vehicle in Magnolia asked an elementary school student to get into his vehicle, police said.
Two additional alleged incidents not substantiated by police were reported to school officials. A W. Reily Brown student allegedly was approached by a man looking for his lost dog in Camden on Nov. 17, and in late December a man allegedly approached two young girls who were walking to Fairview Elementary School and asked that they get into his truck and look for his puppy.
Concern among area residents is growing. However, local police agencies insist that the trend is not significant.
"It’s been coincidental," state police spokesman Cpl. Thomas Guarini said. "It is not a large spike."
Lt. Rob Scott of the Dover Police Department said reports have been investigated through his agency, and rumors have run "wild throughout the law enforcement community," but there has been nothing of substance to report.
"We don’t want people to let their guard down. We want them to be diligent that these things happen. But we don’t want to report rumors either," he said.
Superintendents from the Caesar Rodney and Capital school districts, the students from which were the victims of the substantiated reports, are also reluctant to say they have seen an escalation.
"There seems to be a lot more reporting of it, but it’s hard to tell whether or not there are more incidents," Caesar Rodney’s Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald said.
"I don’t think we have seen an increase in numbers. Obviously the sensitivity remains strong, but we don’t have data to support increased occurrences of that," Capital’s Dr. Michael Thomas said.
Both superintendents said students and parents should remain observant of their surroundings and continue to report any suspicious activity.
"We tell them to go home right away, tell their parents or go to a friend’s house. We’ve preached that over and over again and the kids seem to be listening," Dr. Fitzgerald said. "I think it’s going to take somebody getting a tag number that will lead to an arrest. But I’m hopeful we’re going to get that kind of break."
"I would hope they would report (suspicious activity) more often now. That’s part of a good safety plan," Dr. Thomas said.
He added that because Capital has a large number of walkers, and in an effort to make students more alert, Capital is working with the state and teachers to promote the Safe Routes to School Program.
The program, according to the National Center for Safe Routes to School, is a "sustained efforts by parents, schools, community leaders and local, state, and federal governments to improve the health and well-being of children by enabling and encouraging them to walk and bicycle to school."
It also "examines conditions around schools and conducts projects and activities that work to improve safety and reduce traffic and air pollution in the vicinity of schools."
Dr. Thomas, as well as Cpl. Guarini, also encourage students walking to and from school, and to and from a bus stop, to travel in groups or with an adult whenever possible.
"There is always safety in numbers," Dr. Thomas said.
Cpl. Guarini said the state police will continue to investigate all reported incidents until a suspect is apprehended.
"We take them just a seriously as anything else," he said.
Anyone with information about any of the above incidents is asked to call Delaware State Police Troop 3 at 697-4454 ext 663.
