Criminal Investigation Division

Protecting Your Home

• Pretend to be a burglar. Walk around your property and ask yourself: How would I break in? Examine your house from the street, where are the blind spots? What are the most vulnerable areas and, therefore, likely to be attacked? Stand outside the windows and look in. If you can see your valuable belongings, so can criminals.
• Create a neighborhood watch. Even if you can’t create an organized program, get to know your neighbors. Let them know who belongs there and who doesn’t. An alert and involved community is the criminal’s worst enemy.
• Make sure gates are locked if you have a fence. The more hard work a criminal has to do, the more likely he is to pass by hour home. A locked fence is something they must climb over while carrying objects. If the gate is unlocked, however, they can just walk right through.
• Don’t leave “hidden” house keys nearby. Most hiding spots are well-known to burglars.
• Secure tools and other property. Tools such as hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, ladders, etc., that are left lying around or stored in the open may provide the means for a criminal to gain entry into your home.

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Protecting Your Vehicle

• Lock doors and windows. Even if it’s parked for a short amount of time, and especially if it’s parked overnight.
• Have your vehicle information. Record the make, model, VIN, and license number of your car.
• Park smart. Park your car in a well-lit area, as close to your destination as possible.
• Do not leave valuables in view. Do not leave cash, credit cards, auto registration, or other important papers in plain view. This also applies to valuables such as laptop computers, GPS units, or cell phones.

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Help Police Recover Your Stolen Property

• Engrave or mark property. Marking your property may not prevent it from being stolen, but it does increase the chances of that property being returned to you. Use your ID or drivers license number. Engraving tools can be purchased at hardware stores and large department stores.
• Photograph valuables. Make individual color photos of items of value. Make a file of all the pictures, and a list of the property. Keep a copy of the photos and list at a friend or family member’s home. You can also send the file to your email (if your computer is stolen, you will still have access).
• Update inventory. Keep your list of property that is marked and photographed up to date. Include the items serial number, model number and value on the list.
• Keep your home and vehicle clean. If any fingerprints are available, they can be lifted from a clean surface much easier than if the area is dirty or dusty.
• Help look for your property. Check sites such as Ebay and Craigslist for your property. You would recognize your property better than anyone. If you see anything suspicious report it to police, do not attempt to contact the seller on your own.

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What We Do

The responsibility of the Crimes Against Persons section is to investigate all armed robberies, common law robberies, assaults, rapes, suicides, sudden deaths and homicides. The mission of the unit is to identify and apprehend all suspects and to ensure the integrity of the investigation for any further prosecution.

The Crimes Against Person section is comprised of one sergeant and five detectives.

They are responsible for the investigation of the case and for coordinating within the District Attorney’s office for prosecution of the cases. It is also their job to keep in contact with victims to keep them informed about their pending cases.

If you need to contact one of our detectives about your case or any other case then you should call 910.343.3609.

Victim Information

There may be an occasion where you are a victim. There are resources that you have and may not be aware that can help you. Also, please ask your investigator what kind of services you may be entitled to receive.

If the offender/suspect contacts you in any way, and threatens or otherwise intimidates you, immediately call 911 and the investigator assigned to your case. For further information on victim/witness assistance call 910.343.3609, 24-hours a day, seven-days a week.

Services and Assistance throughout the County

Rape Crisis Center of Coastal Horizons Center

615 Shipyard Blvd.

Wilmington, NC 28412

Administrative Line: 910.392.6936

Crisis Line: 910.392.7460 or 800.672.2903

Fax: 910.392.0628

NC Victims Assistance Program

Phone: 919.831.2857 or 800.348.5068 (toll free)

Fax: 919.831.0824

Mailing Address: PO Box 28557

Raleigh, NC 27611-8557

Street Address: 130 Penmarc Drive, Suite 101

Raleigh, NC 27603

Immigration and Customs Enforcement / Homeland Security Investigations Victim Notification Program

This resource gives victims and witnesses reliable and timely information regarding a criminal alien's release from custody. Victims and witnesses are required to register to receive notification.

New Hanover County District Attorney's Office

316 Princess Street

Wilmington, NC 28401

Mailing Address PO Box 352

Office: 910.772.6610

Fax: 910.772.6611

The Wilmington Police Department is very concerned with the issue of Domestic Violence and has implemented the following procedures to help:

• WPD has assigned a detective to investigate these crimes so that the offenders are successfully prosecuted.
• Our detective works within the District Attorney’s Office.
• The detective follows up on all domestic violence incidents reported to the Wilmington Police Department.
• They review all cases that uniformed patrol officers have responded to, as well as investigating domestic violence issues that were not previously reported to police.
• Aways call 911 when there is an emergency.
• If you are/were a victim of domestic violence, and would like to speak with our domestic violence detective about your situation, whether you reported the incident or not, please contact the appropriate investigator on the right-side of your screen.

Domestic Violence Detective - 910.772.6944

Another resource for Domestic Violence Victims is the Domestic Violence Shelter, and they can be reached at 910.343.0703.

In case of emergency, please call 911.

The Juvenile Justice and Identity Transaction Team is supervised by a Sergeant and staffed with eight detectives. The team handles crimes against children, juvenile assault cases, missing juveniles, domestic violence, financial and identity theft frauds. The focus of this team includes all aspects of family violence regardless of the age of the victim or offender.

The mission of the team is to interrogate offenders, interview victims and witnesses, examine crime scenes, secure criminal complaints and warrant of arrest, testifying and presenting evidence in court, and lending assistance to the prosecuting attorney in the courtroom of criminal cases.

The goal of the Cyber Crimes Investigations Unit is to explain the current state of a digital artifact, for the purpose of evidence collection and court presentation. The field of computer forensics also has sub branches within it such as firewall forensics, network forensics, database forensics and mobile device forensics. The Wilmington Police Department uses its computer forensic lab: In legal cases, computer forensic techniques are frequently used to analyze computer systems belonging to defendants (in criminal cases) or litigants (in civil cases). To recover data in the event of a hardware or software failure. To analyze a computer system after a break- in, for example, to determine how the attacker gained access and what the attacker did. To gather evidence against violators. To gain information about how crimes were committed and the collection of photographic evidence. The cyber Crimes Investigations Unit deals with computer systems, storage medium (such as a hard disk or CD-ROM), electronic document (e.g. an email message or JPEG image), cell phones and even sequences of packets moving over a computer network.

• North Carolina law requires that all precious metals dealers obtain permits from their local police department. If you are a person or business that purchases gold, silver, platinum, or palladium from the public within the City of Wilmington, you must obtain a permit from the Wilmington Police Department. Failure to comply with any law associated with precious metal dealer permits may be found guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor and shall be ineligible for a dealer’s permit for a period of three years following the conviction (NCGS 66-172). Required forms for the permit as well as a copy of the new legislation can be found on the NC Department of Crime Control and Public Safety’s website using the following links:

• North Carolina General Statue for precious metals(PDF, 87KB)
• Precious Metal Application Process(PDF, 109KB) (PDF, 109KB)
• Precious metal permit application(PDF, 167KB)
• QuickStart for Businesses(PDF, 72KB)