New Hanover Sheriff to Take Over Wilmington Airport Policing

WILMINGTON -- Passengers might notice some familiar faces at the Wilmington International Airport in the coming months.

The New Hanover County Sheriff's Office is taking over law enforcement duties at the 1,800-acre site, which includes the terminal building, a business park, Veterans Affairs clinic and the National Weather Service's Wilmington office.

As part of the move, the airport's police department will disband.

But the move has nothing to do with the job that department's nine officers have been doing, said Deputy Airport Director Gary Broughton.

"As we kept growing, we just couldn't attract enough officers," he said.

With the sheriff's office's larger staffing pool, having a full staff to cover all shifts and even ramping up as needed shouldn't be a problem, Broughton said.

Similar to what Cape Fear Community College does, the airport will contract with the sheriff's office for policing services. The salary and supplies/uniforms for the new deputies will cost ILM $440,786 from Nov. 1 through June 30 -- the end of the 2019-20 fiscal year, according to a budget amendment approved by the county commissioners last week.

Lt. Jerry Brewer, spokesman with the sheriff's office, said the department will be hiring additional deputies to cover the airport law enforcement duties and also will incorporate much of the airport's police's equipment into its ranks.

Broughton said having a law enforcement presence at the airport isn't just a nice safety feature; It's a requirement of the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that mans the terminal's security checkpoint, since the TSA doesn't have arrest powers.

Once the change takes place, the airport could look to hire additional personnel to help with some of the non-law enforcement duties ILM's police do now, such as perimeter checks and supplementing the airport's firefighting force.

"But as far as the traveling public goes, they won't see a bit of difference," Broughton said. "This is the right business decision for the airport, and is in no way a safety issue."

He added that the current airport police have been invited to apply for the new positions with the sheriff's office, and several other law enforcement agencies have reached out to gauge interest in having the officers join their departments.

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