Gerald Dixon, 38, of Milford was arrested on April 26 at approximately 11 P after officers observed a vehicle parked in Bicentennial Park. Officers made contact with the driver as the car was in the park after hours since all Milford parks close at dusk.
Upon making contact with Dixon, police saw drug paraphernalia in plain view with further investigation revealing that Dixon was in possession of powdered cocaine as well as a Smith & Wesson handgun with ammunition.
Dixon was taken into custody and charged with possession, purchase, own or control of a deadly weapon by a person prohibited who also possesses a controlled substance; carrying a concealed deadly weapon; possession, consumption of a controlled or counterfeit substance; possession of drug paraphernalia and being in a city park after hours.
He was presented through Justice of the Peace Court 7 where he was issued a $31,001 unsecured bail. He was released from police custody and will be placed on pre-trial supervision at a later date.
The release of Dixon sparked controversy highlighted by Representative Bryan Shupe.
“I’ve lost count of how many times police chiefs, law enforcement leaders and officers in uniform have told me the same thing, “we do our job but the system doesn’t back us up,” and here is a real example of how that just happened in Milford,” Shupe wrote on his Mr. 302 Facebook page. “They investigated a man in a city park after hours near midnight and took him into custody.”
Shupe then listed the charges the man faced when he arrived at the court.
“When he was brought to Justice of the Peace Court 7 in Dover, he was released and placed on pre-trial supervision,” Shupe said. “So we ask again, when will we honor the work of our officers by holding criinals accountable? When will we take public safety seriously in our neighborhoods. The officers are doing their job, it’s time the system does the same.”
Comments on his post were in strong support.
“As a victim of a violent crime, I have been asking this same question for a while,” Jennifer Rambo said. “o one seems to be paying attention or willing to upsh back against the judges and AG office for failure to do their jobs. How many innocent people have to be hurt or killed before someone does something about the crime and judge’s failure to od their jobs.”
