WILMINGTON — The New Hanover County NAACP has publicly entered the fray over recent allegations that Wilmington Police Chief Donny Williams has created a toxic work environment.
READ MORE: City of Wilmington paid $75K for third-party investigation of police department management
On Tuesday, LeRon Montgomery, president of the local NAACP chapter, hosted a press conference to address “current race relations” of the Wilmington Police Department and Williams’ leadership. Montgomery was joined by supporters and NAACP members, as well as Sonya Bennetone-Patrick of the National Black Leadership Caucus of the Southeastern Region.
“His first day in the role was marked by the fallout from racist actions by three officers revealing a deeper culture of racism within the department,” Montgomery said. “This pervasive issue extended beyond just those officers and required Chief Williams to address systemic problems within the force.”
During the first 24 hours of Williams becoming Wilmington’s first Black chief of police, he fired three police officers who were caught on audio making heinous, racist remarks. Port City Daily broke the story in June 2020, which took over national headlines amid civil unrest and protests happening worldwide following George Floyd’s murder.
Montgomery said in the four years since, Williams has built trust in the community, particularly with its Black citizens and has reshaped the department’s culture. He and Bennetone-Patrick agreed changes being implemented in the department — particularly “the good ol’ boy system being thrown out the window” — is at the basis of harsh criticisms.
“When you start doing changes, people do not like change, and that’s what has happened,” Montgomery said.
Bennetone-Patrick called complaints waged against Williams in recent months a “malicious attack.”
“We stand in solidarity with Chief Williams,” she said, adding the investigation into the department is “racially motivated.” “The chief has done a phenomenal job.”
Current and former police officers have spoken out as of late, some advocating for better wages, others accusing Williams of ushering in a toxic work environment. The claims have been brought up at council meetings, in emails to the governmental body and on social media, prompting several members of council to meet with disillusioned officers.
While beginning mostly over the need for better pay and benefits, the narrative shifted more toward working conditions at the department, after a former captain who worked there for more than 25 years described it as toxic in a complaint to city human resources in April.
According to Mike Fanta’s filing, obtained by Port City Daily, Williams had threatened retaliation on any officer who disagreed with him, undermined certain officers by going around the chain of authority, and issued insults to staff.
City Manager Tony Caudle, who announced this week he will retire next spring, found Fanta’s assertions “substantiated” with “appropriate steps being taken,” according to reporting from WECT. Caudle’s office signed off on third-party investigative services from U.S. ISS Agency to review conditions at the WPD for $75,000.
However, members of both the state and local chapters of the NAACP have defended Williams to city council.
North Carolina NAACP President Deborah Dicks Maxwell wrote a letter to city council on Oct. 10. claiming council’s meetings with officers violates the WPD’s policies on chain of command, which state concerns should be directed to the chief rather than referred elsewhere. She took particular aim at council member Luke Waddell, who has been vocal about his engagements with police officers regarding salaries and tried to delay Skyline Center upfits until the police department’s pay could be addressed.
Maxwell wrote in the letter that Waddell ran his election campaign on law and order, yet is enabling sworn officers to subvert the WPD’s policies. She then pointed out only Waddell and those present at the meetings know the full details and said the parties present “look a lot like Waddell as far as diversity goes.”
“These clandestine meetings with Councilman Waddell demonstrate the good ol’ boy system that is mainly aligned with racism within the WPD,” Maxwell wrote.
She also stood up to support Williams at Tuesday night’s council meeting, reiterating the points made in her email.
“We’re here because he’s Black,” Maxwell said.
She added Williams has had a target on his back since he fired the three white officers four years ago.
Maxwell was backed up by several speakers Tuesday night. Shawnetta Pinckney indicated the investigation into the chief was pointless and costly, and Diana Hill said the chief should be given the chance to improve.
Bennetone-Patrick, who attended the city council meeting after NAACP’s press conference, chalked up the recent allegations as an ongoing pattern in local politics, particularly when it comes to Black men holding leadership roles. She pointed to the firing of Superintendent Charles Foust by the all-white school board in July, as well the parting of ways between the majority-white New Hanover Community Endowment Board and its inaugural Black leader, former CEO William Buster.
“It’s not a coincidence,” she said. “It is very important to keep up with the history here in Wilmington. 1898 was the only successful coup to take place in Americans history, and we don’t want history to repeat itself — and you see a pattern here.”
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At the council meeting, she noted a Waddell was at the center of the coup d’état that overran Black leadership and killed hundreds of Black Americans during 1898.
Council member Waddell has stated before he bears no relation to Alfred Moore Waddell, who became Wilmington mayor after leading white supremacists to overthrow the local Fusionist government, consisting of Black and white businessmen from the Populist and Republican parties in 1898.
Waddell did not address the accusations at Tuesday’s meeting. Earlier in the day, Port City Daily asked if he would like to respond to Maxwell’s claims, though did not hear back by press.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Montgomery praised Williams for making “significant improvements” citywide. He pointed to crime decreasing in recent years. 2023 set a new record low for violent crimes, such as homicide, aggravated assault, rape and robbery, now on a three-year decline — however, property crime increased.
Montgomery added there has been more community engagement among Black citizens with law enforcement as well.
“Just a few weeks ago, we were out in the Creekwood community; that was very unheard of in the past and the police training station out there was open for a community event,” he said.
Montgomery added the NAACP had spoken with people at WPD, and was particularly concerned with African American officers who expressed exhaustion due to dealing with the recent round of retiree complaints. The fear was it would divide the department, rather than focus on gains made under Williams’ leadership; Montgomery said he has positively affected diversity and accountability.
“It just amazes me that you have to wait till you retire to bring up these claims now,” Montgomery said, “and stir this up.”
Fanta retired earlier this year and in his complaint noted he addressed his issues with the chief in December 2023, but working conditions did not improve.
He reported Williams took away his subordinates’ authority to assign vehicles and gear because the chief thought they would take good vehicles for themselves or allocate them based on friendship. Though, Fanta claims, the chief was never able to provide examples of this occurring.
According to Fanta, Williams also barred officers from specialized assignment selection on diversity grounds, pointing to the fired officers who were on the same unit.
Fanta said he took this to mean Williams was expressing that some officers were “racist in past decisions.”
If true, Williams would not be wrong when taking into account the 2020 firing of the three cops caught making racial slurs.
Fanta’s other allegations include the chief making statements such as “get on the bus/his bus” — indicating not to disagree with his decisions — and the chief collecting badges from officers he terminated, keeping them in a bowl in his office.
Montgomery countered this accusation.
“I have spoken to Chief Williams personally and to many other officers, who claimed that is not the case,” he said. “There’s not a bowl on his desk. … Just those three officers’ [who were fired,] their badges sit on his bookshelf in his office to remind him this is what this department will not stand for.”
The police department communications team verified this as true.
Fanta also quotes Williams as saying he could “use the powers no previous chief used to make an example of a command staff member.” He said the chief threatened him with insubordination at the beginning of his leadership tenure over the deployment of plain-clothes vice detectives for Covid-19 compliance enforcement.
The retiree has gone on the record saying Williams leads like a dictator, to which Montgomery also rebutted. He pointed to Williams’ leadership as fire chief in Navassa not rousing complaints.
“So someone ought to ask themselves the question: Leadership styles do not change, but people do — so what is the real problem?”
Bennetone-Patrick added local leaders should also weigh considerations of the Black community, many of whom now feel safe under Williams’ guard because of his attempts to regain trust. She said officers called to oversee rallies and events she hosts today, whether for the Black Leadership Caucus or local Black Lives Matter chapter, which she also runs, come with more welcoming support.
“The whole energy was different under the previous administration,” she said, “as if ‘we don’t want to be bothered or want you here.’ And that was very concerning.”
She also took issue with the city using taxpayer’s money to allow the investigation yet not releasing it to the public: “Our taxpayer dollars paid for it, so we should be entitled to know what it says.”
Council met in closed session on Oct. 11 to discuss WPD leadership and the third-party investigation. City council members have mostly remained closed-lipped with the media about their conversations regarding the WPD and the investigation.
In the months since the events unfolded, city council also had its first budget session, where it discussed increasing police officer (and firefighter) pay, though not allegations of misconduct.
For this article, only Waddell and fellow council members Kevin Spears and David Joyner responded to interview requests; the former declined, while the latter said he was unavailable due to trial. Waddell said he was willing to answer written questions but they were not returned by press.
Brannon Gray, president of the Southeastern Chapter of the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association, provided insight into a meeting with Waddell and Mayor Saffo last week, as reported by WECT. Gray discussed staffing shortages, promotional processes, salary disparities and “personnel challenges” — along with the U.S. ISS Agency investigation.
PCD reached out to Gray but was unable to reach him by press.
The WPD also did not respond whether the chief had a statement regarding the investigation or accusations, nor NAACP defending his service to the city.
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com
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