“Inaction requires Reaction:” Protest outside Wilmington Police Headquarters

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — On Saturday afternoon, a protest took place outside the Wilmington Police Department headquarters.

Organized by local Cassie Payton, who is speaking out about her experience with the police in the aftermath of a violent sexual assault.

Payton claims that after immediately reporting the assault, the Wilmington Police Department took 17 days to examine the scene.

She believes the delay in investigating the case led to it being declined by the prosecution due to a lack of evidence. Payton argues that the inaction of the police ultimately prevented justice from being served.

“My case is not unique,” Payton said. “There is a petition that has close to 4,000 signatures, supporting change.”

Payton hopes the petition and her protest will bring about changes in police procedures, particularly in how urgent cases like hers are handled. She outlined what policy adjustments she hopes to see in the future.

“Ensure that when there is an on-call detective, if they are not familiar with how to act on urgency, that they at least have structures in place of who to report to when that happens to ensure that I am still met with urgency and that other victims are met with urgency as well moving forward,” Payton explained.

She also shared that her case was handled by an “on-call detective,” who, according to Payton, was inexperienced with violent crimes.

We reached out to the Wilmington Police Department for comment. A spokesperson responded, stating they had no comment at this time.