A look at what the Wilmington Police Law Enforcement Museum will entail

The Wilmington Police Department is working on a new addition to its headquarters in hopes of bringing people into the department for positive reasons.

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Wilmington Police Department is working on a new addition to its headquarters in hopes of bringing people into the department for positive reasons.

A police cap from the late 1800s to early 1900s, a hand-drawn annual report from the 1950s, and incident reports from the 1940s are some of the items that will soon be on display at the Wilmington Police Department.

Before the pandemic, the department would bring in tours to see the department and where police officers work. The museum they are creating will be historic items on display in the halls of the headquarters, so people who take tours of the department will have more to see than potentially empty offices.

In addition to the historic items, timelines that highlight significant points in the department’s past will line the walls.

Lieutenant Stephanie Boucher works in the Criminal Investigation Division and also serves as the department historian. She says they hope the museum will bring people into the department for positive reasons.

“Community engagement is very important to our department. We just feel like this is another opportunity for us to do this in a positive way and highlight the fun stuff about law enforcement and also our history. We’ve got a lot of history that we can share and we want the community to be able to come in and share that with us,” Boucher said.

Administrative Program Manager April McKeithan says they want the display to be interactive. They plan to have a scavenger hunt for kids and adults who would like to participate when they visit the department.

There are large white panels in the lobby of the police department. McKeithan says they want to pull them down, have different community groups decorate the panels with artwork, and put them back up for permanent display in the lobby.

“I know when I was younger if you had a piece of artwork at the mall or wherever it may be, you had to go find it. So, they could take pride in having a piece of the building,” McKeithan said. “Hopefully, engage them in what we do here and interest them to learn more about what we do.”

The project is being funded by $40,000 of the NC State Drug Tax Revenue. Some people raised concern about the funds and if they could be used in a different way in the community, but during last week’s city council meeting City Attorney John Joye explained the funds can’t be used outside the department.

“We can’t do, by statute, the things that people would like to see us do. Meredith, John, is that a fair statement?” Councilman Charlie Rivenbark asked.

“Councilmember, you hit the nail on the head. The proceeds must be used for law enforcement purposes and not for the general operations or activities of the city or county is a part,” Joye responded.

During the same council meeting, Police Chief Donny Williams explained some other ways the funds had been used. He says they were used to expand the Police Activities League which is designed to connect police officers with youth by getting boys and girls in sports and other activities.

The funds were also used to purchase chainsaws that the department used to help the city clean up fallen trees and other debris after Hurricane Isaias. Most recently, Chief Williams says they purchased a community engagement trailer that can be taken into communities to hand out snow cones, ice cream, and popcorn, but it can also be used to feed officers in the event of a critical incident.

“I’ve purchased no weapons, no drones, none of that stuff with this money, purposefully,” the chief told council. “I want to be sensitive to the needs of our community and, again, this project is just to get people in the station and bring people together.”

In sharing the history of the department, Lieutenant Boucher hopes to inspire the future generation of law enforcement.

“If they have questions, if they have perceptions of our department, there are people they can discuss that with, and hopefully we can have a discussion and learn from each other,” Boucher said. “Just open it up for another purpose than for reports.”

The museum is expected to open in early May 2023.