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February 2008
Here is your monthly update from the Wilmington Police Department.
The fine women and men in blue continue to serve your needs and are working diligently to make your living environment a safer place for you. The month of February just seemed to cruise on by without any major occurrences affecting our districts. Property crimes (home break-ins, car break-ins, larcenies) still continue to dominate our crime statistics. Violent crimes are reported on a very infrequent basis. The crime analyst report has just been submitted for this report, and again, there are no significant trends in either direction that warrants notification to you or a restructuring of our methods of operation. Major thoroughfares have the most frequent reports with the most reported crime being that of larceny. McClelland Drive was the only predominantly residential street represented in our top ten list. The monthly report lists the following Top 10 Streets:
- Market St.
- S. College Rd.
- Oleander Dr.
- Eastwood Rd.
- S. Kerr Ave.
- Mc Clelland Dr.
- New Centre Dr.
- Racine Dr.
- Sigmon Rd.
- Wrightsville Ave
Civil Law and Criminal Law
From time to time, I and other officers respond to calls for service regarding disputes amongst neighbors, businesses and clients, landlords and tenants, etc. that require interpretation of the law. There are two basic types of law that we are exposed to in the field that require our services; criminal and civil law. Criminal law deals with acts in violations of North Carolina Criminal Statutes and or city ordinances to include traffic violations. Civil law deals more with custody matters, child support, small claims suits, disputes over contracts, separation and divorce matters, etc. The officers with the Wilmington Police Department enforce criminal law. We do not enforce civil law. We do respond to disputes over these situations to find a quick remedy so as to not allow any criminal violations to occur, but we do not have the authority to enforce the civil matters. Those matters rest with your local county Sheriff’s office. Many times citizens get the wrong impression that since we do not take any enforcement action in a civil matter that we are suggesting that one of the parties has not done anything wrong. On the contrary, we are merely performing our duties as we are authorized to do. All officers are trained in civil matters, and are certainly exposed to it daily during our tour of duty. WPD officers are equipped to give you good sound advice in these matters but are unauthorized to drag the “guilty” party away in handcuffs!
New Hanover County Relay for Life
Several officers, including myself, have formed a team to participate in the upcoming annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The Relay for Life is scheduled for April 25-26, 2008 at Ashley High School. Although we are a police department team, the members are involved with this cause on their own time and not as a representative of the city government. This event created an opportunity for us to support the community that supports us. We are currently registered online and are accepting donations to this worthy cause. I would respectfully ask for your support in this cause as we are attempting to raise money for the awareness, prevention and cure of cancer; a disease that affects us all. You can access our team at www.newhanoverrelay.org. Just click on the on-line participation icon and locate the team “Wilmington Police Department” or individual participant “Jeff T. Allsbrook”. I thank you in advance for your consideration.
Lastly, I am off to Richmond, Virginia, to cheer on Benny Moss and his boys as they attempt to bring back a basketball championship to UNCW and the Wilmington community. Having graduated from there, and creating a working relationship with the college administration, I feel it is my duty and obligation to find a seat and cheer as loud as I can to help the team. Hopefully, with a good solid performance and a couple of lucky bounces, Teal Nation will be able to rush the court on Monday night, cut down the nets and participate in the “Big Dance.”
Feel free to disseminate this with your friends and associates. Give me a reply and let me know how we are doing.
Professionally,
Lt. Jeff Allsbrook
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