Police Chief Ralph Evangelous called a
press conference on March 5 to share the results of a 2-month long
internal investigation involving a prostitution sting in downtown
Wilmington that recently resulted disciplinary action being taken
against several officers.
The investigation was called after it
became apparent that officers had failed to follow guidelines for
documenting cash used in the operation, and at least one officer
overindulged in alcohol.
“[This department] has a history
here,” Evangelous said. “This is the first incident in my nine
years here that calls question to the integrity of the department. I
will not stand for it.”
The undercover officers reportedly
invited as many as four to six escorts back to a recreational vehicle
as part of the undercover operation.
While he was not clear on what exactly
happened inside the recreational vehicle, Evangelous said there was
no sexual contact between the officers and the escorts.
A $500 “key FOB” camera was also
reported missing during the sting. Evangelous said these cameras were
commonly misplaced due to their size, but never before had one failed
to turn up.
Evangelous blamed the incident on a
failure of supervision, and vowed never to allow something like this
to happen again.
“If I have to supervise the whole
thing myself I will,” Evangelous said. “If I can't count on my
staff, I'll do it myself.”
Email dan@luminanews.com
