WPD Chief Donny Williams responds to allegations made against his leadership

Chief Williams and some black community leaders say racism is to blame.

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Following a third-party investigation, Wilmington Police Chief Donny Williams is pushing back against allegations made against him by former employees. 

The investigation was launched after retired Police Captain Mike Fanta filed an HR complaint earlier this year. Fanta alleged Chief Williams ignored lower-level leadership input, made retaliatory threats against employees, and facilitated a hostile work environment.  

WWAY requested to see the results of that investigation, but we were told the report is not public information.  

Fanta later received a letter from City Manager Tony Caudle after the investigation concluded in October that his claims were “substantiated” and that “appropriate steps are being taken.”  

When we sat down with Fanta, he took aim at what he sees as a dismissal of leadership below the chief.  

“Nobody wants to work under a dictator. Everybody wants to serve a purpose, everybody wants to have a role, everybody wants to have a voice. From your junior patrol officer, to your seasoned captain a chief, they should all be allowed to have a voice,” Fanta said. 

On Wednesday, Chief Williams invited members of the media to police headquarters. He says there is more to the accusations made by Fanta.  

Williams shared with us audio recordings of two former employees making racist remarks about him.  

Within those recordings, one of which was taken in 2017, and another in 2014, the employees said Williams—then a captain—dressed and looked like a “thug” and “mutt” while he was off duty. They also said he was indistinguishable from a suspect and that he was “the last Black Panther left” in the department.  

Williams says he’s deeply troubled by these recordings but wants the community to know that behavior will not be tolerated.  

“Do we have pockets of racism? Yes. Absolutely. Any large organization is going to have people with different views. I said this back in 2020, and I’m going to say it again: judge our officers by the color of their hearts, not by the color of their skin,” Williams said. 

Williams denies the allegations made by Fanta and says some employees in the police department have expressed discontent with black people in leadership roles.   

During our discussion, Deputy Chief Kelvin Hargrove said Fanta was the only person to not congratulate him after he rose to his position.  

“Never spoke to me again. And that’s after 20, 25 years of—I thought—friendship, but since I was now deputy chief, he decided not to have any conversation with me again,” Kelvin recalled. 

Since the allegations have reached public attention, several community members have voiced their support of Williams. 

In response to an email sent to all city council members, Councilwoman Salette Andrews expressed her support for the Williams, adding she is unaware of any motion to remove him as police chief. 

At a news conference on Tuesday, NAACP President LeRon Montgomery expressed his concerns about the allegations that some feel are racially motivated. 

“These are a few officers, retirees that are stirring up trouble and causing division in the current administration of the Wilmington Police Department but under Chief Williams’ administration, integrity has been upheld in our community.” 

In response to the assertion that the allegations are about race, Fanta sent WWAY the following statement:

“The city manager and or the chief has the ability to open up the investigation and allow the citizens and these groups to look into the matter and decide for themselves. 

If they truly feel this is a race-based matter then transparency would be the right decision to make. 

I feel there is a substantial amount of evidence to prove it is not based on anyone’s race. 

I look forward to the Chief and the City Manager to allow it to be released so the citizens and employees of Wilmington PD can move past this and work towards repairing the damage that has been done.” 

 Chief Williams says he has not read the results of the investigation, in order to avoid any conflict of interest.