Speeding tickets dismissed after Wilmington police officer’s radar certification lapsed

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Pending speeding tickets written by a Wilmington police officer between October of 2021 and July 7 have been dismissed by the District Attorney’s Office, due to the officer’s expired radar certification.

According to a joint statement from Wilmington Police Chief Donny Williams and District Attorney Ben David, once the officer realized the error, he notified his supervisors and the DA’s office.

“Once I was notified, I immediately opened an investigation to look into the matter,” Chief Williams said in a news release. “This investigation included a complete audit of all radar operators. The results of that audit have shown that this was an isolated incident and all other officers, who are radar certified, are in good standing.”

Chief Williams says he is evaluating the current policy on expiration tracking for all certifications and is working on new measures to prevent this from happening again.

David said his staff will dismiss any pending speeding charge issued by Officer Eric Lippert. David said any other pending charges and disposed speeding tickets issued by Officer Lippert will be addressed on a case-by-case-basis.

 Wilmington police say the internal investigation is on-going.