Two late night crimes renew focus on downtown Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — In recent weeks, the topic of crime in downtown Wilmington has been a major point of contention at Wilmington City Council meetings.  

This comes as over the weekend, a shooting left one person injured, and a rogue ATV driver injured a sheriff’s deputy.  

Those events could give some credence to the feeling of some—that downtown is becoming less safe.  

“It’s not uncommon this time of year,” Lieutenant Greg Willett with the Wilmington Police Department noted. Willett says much of that perception can be contributed to the end of the summer season, as tourists continue to visit, and college students begin returning to the area.  

“You’ll see more people out. When there’s more people out, there’s typically more calls for service, which is indicative sometimes of more trouble,” he said. 

Many who have come to Wilmington from elsewhere say the Port City by comparison is a safe place.

“I came from like Jacksonville, Florida. So, this city is not nearly as bad,” Shawn Brown said. 

“(I’m) from Washington, DC,” one visitor in downtown Wilmington said. “I feel safe here, you know? From where we’re from, you kind of watch everything all the time. So, I think it seems pretty safe.”

While others feel things have gotten worse recently. 

“In the last two years, yeah. Based on five years ago it wasn’t as bad,” Jhonny Neel expressed. “A lot of it has to do with homeless people, and the gangs that are still in Wilmington.”  

Though Lt. Willett notes it’s important to separate issues like crime, from more complex issues like homelessness.  

In reality, the vast majority of crimes are committed by people who aren’t facing homelessness.  

“When you talk about homelessness specifically, there’s a lot of moving parts with that, and law enforcement, I would say is not even a quarter of the 100% solution,” he said.