WPD officer demoted after Uber video, promoted, retires

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Wilmington Police Officer demoted after video of his traffic stop went viral last year, received a promotion in January, and then retired the very next day.

This all happened within hours of Wilmington Police answering our request for information on the personnel status of Ofc. Kenneth Becker.

In December, WWAY began asking for that information.

WPD fulfilled our request just before 1:00 p.m. on January 30. The information we received showed Becker was still demoted to corporal and made just over $58,000 a year.

But at some point between the time we received that information and the following day, Becker was reinstated to the rank of sergeant, which was backdated to September 27, 2017 and given a nearly $3,000 raise.

The next day, on January 31, Sgt. Becker retired.

This all stems from a traffic stop that made national headlines last year.

In February of 2017, Becker pulled over Uber driver Jesse Bright, who also happens to be an attorney.

Bright, who told us last year he always recommends his clients record traffic stops, followed his own advice and began recording Becker.

In the video, you can hear their exchange.

“Turn that off,” Becker said.

“No, I’ll keep recording. Thank you,” Bright said.

At the time, Becker told Bright he had just taken his passenger to a known drug house.

“Sgt. Becker told me it was illegal to film the police and told me to turn it off or he would take me to jail,” Bright told WWAY in an interview last year.

Wilmington Police launched an internal investigation.

Three weeks later, Becker was demoted from sergeant to corporal. Police would not say whether that demotion was a direct result of the internal affairs investigation.

Becker had a civil service commission hearing, which led to his reinstatement.

The Civil Service Commission was established by the NC General Assembly.

According to rules adopted in 2017, the City Attorney is the legal adviser. While the meetings are subject to Open Meetings Law, they are closed if a meeting involves a personnel matter, as the case of Sgt. Becker.

In the City of Wilmington’s Code of Ordinances, the commission consists of five members. who must be a citizen and resident of the City of Wilmington. They can not be an officer or city employee, or an immediate family member of a city employee.

WWAY reached out to both WPD and the City of Wilmington to find out when that hearing took place, but neither had an answer.

We also tried to speak with Bright but could not reach him today.