Federally funded Wilmington police officers get sworn in
February 4, 2010By Business Journal staff
A new batch of Wilmington police officers will be sworn in on Friday, Feb. 5. The Wilmington Police Department received a $2 million federal Recovery Act grant in July from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to hire 13 new officers. Ten of the officers who will be sworn in on Friday were hired with these funds, which will pay them for three years. The other three officers will begin basic law enforcement training at Cape Fear Community College to graduate in June.
One condition of the grant requires the city of Wilmington to commit to employ the 13 officers for a fourth year. Without an increase in pay or benefits, this would cost the city about $666,000, according to Malcolm Phelps, grants manager for the Wilmington Police Department.
Friday’s ceremony will also mark the promotion of Sgt. Chris Farr and Cpl. David Pellegrino at 3 p.m. at the Northeast Regional Library at 1241 Military Cutoff Road.
