Wilmington · Wilmington Police Department
Your Wilmington Police Department Crash Report and Where Else to Look
Wilmington's Police to Citizen website carries limited information from Wilmington Police Department crash reports. WPD Records allows 5 to 7 business days for a police report to go online, and says accident reports may need longer. The WPD Records section answers at 910.343.3640. A crash on UNCW property has its report in UNCW's own database.
A Wilmington crash report records the officer's written account of the crash on the state DMV-349 form. Which agency holds it turns on where in the city the crash happened.
Below are the WPD online route and phone line, the UNCW police database, what the state form records, the state's own copy alongside a crash just outside the city, and how to read the report before we meet.
01
WPD crash reports on Wilmington's Police to Citizen site
The Wilmington Police Department Records section provides limited information on incident and accident reports through Police to Citizen, an online portal, according to the department's Administrative Services Bureau page. The same page warns that crash reports can lag behind the usual online posting time for police reports, which it puts at between five and seven business days.
| WPD route | What the City of Wilmington lists |
|---|---|
| Online | Police to Citizen, wilmingtonnc.policetocitizen.com |
| Records phone | 910.343.3640 |
| Front desk | 615 Bess Street, Wilmington, NC 28401, open 24 hours a day and seven days a week, 910.343.3600 |
The city calls its Records section a controlled and secure unit that releases only specific information to the public. What Police to Citizen shows is the limited version the city describes.
The Records page lists no fee for a WPD crash report. Ask about cost, and about which details the posted version omits, when you call the Records line.
Exception. A Wilmington crash report missing from Police to Citizen after seven business days is not necessarily missing. The department says accident reports can post later than other police reports, and the Records phone line is the next step.
02
UNCW campus crashes come from the UNC Wilmington Police database
For a crash on university property, UNCW points people to the UNC Wilmington Police Department's Crash Report Database, where a copy can be downloaded or printed. For crash reports the page points to that database and not to its written request form.
Open the UNCW Crash Report Database
The database is linked from the University Police Records Request page.
Search with one UNCW crash detail
A search needs just one entry among four: the report's number, the crash date, a street name or a driver's name.
Call University Police if it is not there
UNCW lists 910.962.2222 and police@uncw.edu for University Police.
UNCW says copies of public records are generally provided at no cost, with charges possible for extraordinary requests under G.S. 132-6.2(b). Its designated staff release copies Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Friday from 8 to 11 a.m.
03
What the DMV-349 from a Wilmington crash records
The DMV-349 is the state crash report form. The copy the NCDMV posts, Rev. 4/2018, gives each unit its own driver, owner and insurance boxes, and adds a diagram and a narrative. The table lists the fields that matter most after a Wilmington crash.
| DMV-349 field | What it holds for a Wilmington crash |
|---|---|
| Insurance Company and Policy # | The carrier and policy number listed for each vehicle |
| Diagram and Narrative | The officer's sketch and written account of how the crash happened |
| Traffic Violation(s), Citation # optional | Any violation the officer noted, with an optional citation number |
| Estimated Damage $ | The officer's damage estimate for each vehicle |
| Officer Name, Officer Number and Department | Who wrote the report and for which agency |
G.S. 20-166.1(i) treats an officer's crash report as a public record that the public may look over at any reasonable time. G.S. 20-166.1(e) adds that the report carries financial responsibility information covering the car or truck driven by whoever the officer named as at fault.
Exception. G.S. 20-166.1(i) sets apart reports from people who are neither officers nor medical examiners. Such a report is not a public record, and the statute reserves it for the use of the Division.
04
Past the Wilmington city line, and the state's copy of your report
Once a crash is beyond Wilmington's limits, it is typically a State Highway Patrol case, in the words of First Sergeant Chris Knox on the NCDPS Safety Scoop. The separate Town of Wrightsville Beach keeps its own police reports, and its FAQ asks anyone picking one up at the department to call ahead, with the front desk open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Under G.S. 20-166.1(e), the Wilmington Police Department, as the local agency, has 10 days from receiving an officer's report to send it along to the state's motor vehicle division, and that is how the state comes to hold its own copy. A request for it goes on form TR-67A with a $6.50 charge under G.S. 20-42(b), and the DMV says a mailed request needs 10 business days of processing once it arrives.
| Source of a Wilmington-area copy | Cost as listed | Posting or processing time as listed |
|---|---|---|
| Wilmington Police Department Records | No fee listed on the Records page | Online in a stated 5 to 7 business days, accident reports sometimes later |
| UNC Wilmington Police | Generally no cost for public records | Download when the report is in the database |
| NCDMV copy on TR-67A | $6.50 (G.S. 20-42(b)) | Ten business days by mail |
05
Reading your Wilmington report before our first meeting
Go through your Wilmington crash report before our meeting, beginning with the other vehicle's Insurance Company and Policy # boxes. The narrative and the diagram deserve the next look, since those two fields hold the officer's account of the crash.
Check that your name, your vehicle and your insurance are listed correctly. I would rather find a mistake on the form while the crash is recent.
Those two fields hold the officer's account of the crash.
Keep the report with the officer's paperwork from the scene. The Wilmington city page answers courthouse and venue questions, the Wilmington crash statistics page sets out NCDOT's three-year Wilmington totals, and the contact page accepts a meeting request.
Questions
Common questions
Can I get a WPD crash report at the Bess Street front desk?
The City of Wilmington lists the front desk at 615 Bess Street as open around the clock, but its Records section points people to Police to Citizen online and to the Records line at 910.343.3640. Call Records first to learn how the department releases a crash report in person.
Does a Wilmington crash report show the other driver's insurance?
The DMV-349 form has Insurance Company and Policy # fields for each vehicle, and G.S. 20-166.1(e) requires the officer's report to include financial responsibility details for the driver identified as at fault. What appears depends on what the officer recorded.
Which Wilmington investigators handle a property-damage-only crash?
The Wilmington Police Department says six civilian crash investigators handle vehicle crashes that resulted in property damage, more than 1,500 of them each year. A fatal crash goes to the Traffic Unit instead. The Department and Officer Name fields on your report show who wrote it.
About the attorney
Julian Doby, attorney since 1998
Julian Doby has been admitted to practice in North Carolina since 1998, North Carolina State Bar No. 25407, and he represents injured people across the state. His one office is at 110 W. Elm Street in Graham. He meets clients across the state after a first conversation by phone or video.
More about JulianSources and verification (11)
- City of Wilmington, Wilmington Police Department, Administrative Services Bureau (Records), verified October 18, 2026.
- UNC Wilmington, University Police, Records Request, verified October 18, 2026.
- UNC Wilmington Police Department, Crash Report Database, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 132-6.2(b), fees for copies of public records, ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, Crash Report Form DMV-349 (Rev. 4/2018), verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-166.1(e) and (i), ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDPS, Safety Scoop, Season 4, Episode 2, SHP Answers Top Questions from Motorists (transcript), verified October 18, 2026.
- Town of Wrightsville Beach, Frequently Asked Questions (police report copies), verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, Form TR-67A, Request for Motor Vehicle Information (Crash Reports), revised July 1, 2024, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, Crash Reports, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-42(b), ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
Have your Wilmington report? Talk first.
Call or send a visit request. We start by phone or video, and then I can come to you.