Welcome!

On behalf of the men and women of the Wilmington Police Department, I want to welcome you to our website and thank you for taking the time to learn about our organization. I am honored to have the privilege of serving this community and as the Chief of Police, I invite you to browse our website and familiarize yourself with the various services our department has to offer.

The professionals of the Wilmington PD serve a population of nearly 24,000 citizens. The members of the Wilmington Police Department truly care about the safety of our community and providing excellent customer service. Our staff responds to the public safety needs of the community with the most effective measures available within our existing resources with the primary focus of ensuring the safety and well-being of our citizens and visitors.

We invite and encourage the community to take the opportunity to participate in our community-related programs and public safety events, including our weekly child safety seat inspections, Citizen CPR course, our very successful National Night Out event, RAD women’s self-defense class, and our Police Explorers program, just to name a few.

Our policing philosophy balances a foundation of traditional policing concepts with innovative and progressive methods such as a full time Substance Abuse Coordinator and a part time Addiction Recovery Coach. This balance helps us stress our core values of Respect, Compassion and Commitment to our citizens. Community problems are best addressed by working in partnership with citizens; therefore, we will always reach out to the community to look for input to solutions that are a challenge to community.

As your Chief of Police, I will always listen to your needs and strive to be open and honest with community members as well as the men and women with whom I serve. I believe maintaining a high level of professionalism within the police department serves to maintain the quality of public safety citizens deserve and fosters collaborative efforts which result in constantly improving community relations.

-Chief Joseph Desmond