Wilmington officer demoted after lying about law during traffic stop

A Wilmington police officer who was filmed lying to an Uber driver about a state law that allows people to film police was demoted after an internal investigation.

Sgt. Kenneth Becker was filmed by Uber driver Jesse Bright, who is also a defense attorney, during a traffic stop in late February. Becker told Bright that he could not film police under a new state law.

There is no such law in North Carolina.

A statement released on Thursday by Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous said the investigation was closed.

“I cannot stress enough, that photographing and videotaping the police keeps us accountable," Evangelous said. "We believe that public videos help to protect the police as well as our citizens and provide critical information during police and citizen interaction.”

Becker has been with the department for 17 years, and he is currently assigned to the Planning and Research Division.

from http://www.wral.com/wilmington-officer-demoted-after-lying-about-law-dur...