WILMINGTON — Ron Fithen has resigned as chief of the Wilmington Police Department to accept a new position.

Wilmington Mayor Patrick Haley announced in a news release that effective Friday, Feb. 2, Fithen will transition into a “vital new role within the Police Department as the Police Executive for Administrative Services.”

Mayor Haley stated in the release that Fithen “willingly accepted this new challenge and is prepared to immediately commence work on the necessary enhancements.”

According to the release, Fithen will be in charge of overseeing the operations at the department’s evidence room and will “spearhead efforts in grant writing and managing responses to open record requests.”

Sgt. Bob Wilson will serve as interim police chief. Haley advised that civil service testing will be conducted to select the new chief.

Haley told the News Journal that Fithen will still serve as a sworn police officer but he will be serving in this newly-appointed position.

“There was a need for the role,” Haley said. “We’ve had some problems with the evidence room, and an audit was performed (by an outside firm). We need to make some drastic changes and I thought (Fithen) would be an ideal candidate for the role.”

Haley expressed confidence in Fithen’s “ability to enhance the evidence room’s operations, emphasizing the need for major improvements.”

Fithen was named Wilmington’s police chief in July 2022, taking over the role from Ron Cravens, who retired in April 2022. During his time with the police department, Fithen also served as the first K-9 officer, the special response team commander, and a crisis and hostage negotiator, the release states.

Reach John Hamilton at 937-382-2574