Wilmington Police use closed motel for training session

The former Whitey’s El-Berta Motor Inn hosted some dramatic law enforcement training Thursday afternoon.

The Wilmington Police Department’s Special Enforcement Response Team and it’s bomb squad practiced getting in doors and windows, using a battering ram, and other tactics, in case of an emergency.

Officers said using old buildings is a great way to get some hands-on experience to be prepared for a real-life situation.

“Given the fact that we have these buildings out here and we’re actually able to actually able to do some type of demolition to them where we don’t have to worry about actually breaking stuff and we don’t have to do any kind of repairing, it’s a perfect time for us to come out here,” said Wilmington Police Department’s Kevin Johnson.

The owner of Whitey’s gave the WPD permission to use the site for Thursday’s training. The motel closed in June.