Delaware Civil Rights

Overview

The Office’s four main areas of responsibility are:

• Enforcement of Delaware laws protecting the individual rights and liberties of Delawareans, including but not limited to rights secured by the Delaware and United States constitutions, Delaware’s public accommodations laws, housing discrimination laws, employment discrimination laws, and laws protecting the educational rights of children and the rights of Delawareans with disabilities.
• Enforcement of laws designed to ensure citizen trust in government, including election laws, laws governing the use of public funds, and laws governing the conduct of public employees and officials. In these areas, the office will work collaboratively with the Elections Commissioner, Public Integrity Commission and State Auditor.
• Investigations where the Department of Justice’s other responsibilities might present the appearance of a conflict, such as investigations of use of force by law enforcement officers and investigations of deaths or near-deaths of children under state supervision.
• Investigation of law enforcement officer involved shootings. The investigations determine whether a law enforcement officer’s use of force constitutes a criminal act.  The investigations do not establish or enforce internal police policies concerning the proper use of force by law enforcement officers.  Law enforcement agencies are responsible for establishing and enforcing guidelines for the use of force by their officers and for determining whether an officer’s actions were consistent with such guidelines in a given case.