DPS Dispatch

Safety Tips for Lightning Awareness Week

Hot summer days bring afternoon thunderstorms in North Carolina, and where there’s thunder, there’s lightning. We can all do our part to prevent future fatalities by raising our own awareness of lightning safety best practices.

Robeson County says Happy Retirement to a Public Safety Icon

Two New NC State Troopers are Following in their Fathers’ Footsteps

This Father’s Day, Master Trooper Jason Ratliff and Master Trooper (Ret.) John King Sr. have something extra special to celebrate. On April 19, they each had a son graduate in the 162nd Basic Patrol School—like father, like son. 

Summer camp offers new experiences for JJDP youth

Bright sunshine glistens off a cool lake, with green grass underfoot and pine trees swaying overhead. The sounds of children laughing carries on the air. After dining hall meals, activities await – swimming, canoeing, climbing and so much more.

Funding Resilient Communities across North Carolina

NC rural counties find funding solutions to for needed resources that will build a more prepared and resilient community.

Real world simulations prepare youth for adulthood

In recognition of Second Chance Month, youth development centers across North Carolina highlighted the theme of reentry this month, hosting a series of real-world simulations designed to teach youth in their care the realities of adult life – from selecting a career to maintaining a balanced budg

As Federal VOCA Funding Decreases, North Carolinians Must Stand Up for Victims of Crime

Governor's Crime Commission Executive Director Caroline Farmer calls attention to the decline in Victim of Crime Act funding and suggests ways North Carolinians can help ensure our communities continue to support family members, neighbors, coworkers, friends and acquaintances who have been victims of crime.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol goes above and beyond in support of the NC Special Olympics

In honor of Volunteer Week, we are highlighting SHP’s extraordinary contribution to this worthy organization. In 2023, the patrol raised a record $70,934.68 for Special Olympics. According to F/Sgt. Hipp, who has been the State Coordinator for the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics since 2018, SHP had raised about $8,000 in previous years. How did the patrol increase their fundraising total by almost a factor of nine last year?

Do you copy? A look at North Carolina Emergency Management’s Comms rockstars

Some of the key resources that the 24-Hour Watch coordinates are the tactical dispatcher program, which provides dispatchers to large events that backfill local 911 centers, and skilled communications professionals that can set up complex radio systems and troubleshoot and repair issues. The 24-Hour Watch is ready to meet the need statewide, whatever it may be. Outside of communications, the 24-Hour Watch receives requests and dispatches specialized state resources such as the Hazardous Materials Regional Response Teams (NCRRT), the Helo-Aquatic Rescue Team (NCHART), the Urban Search and Rescue Teams and Swift Water Rescue Teams, among others. The 24-Hour Watch is also an approved entity to push Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) messages to the public. 

April is Alcohol Awareness Month

April is Alcohol Awareness Month, and NC Alcohol Law Enforcement would like to take the opportunity to raise awareness of an important issue they encounter in our state: underage youth purchasing, possessing and consuming alcoholic beverages.

NC Alcohol Law Enforcement Graduates Its First Female K-9 Handlers

On March 14, at the Bob Barker Retreat along the Cape Fear River, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement graduated its first female K-9 handlers, Special Agents Megan Scherbekow and Blythe Watson. These groundbreaking women have each put in 350 hours of training with their K-9s and have both dreamed of being K-9 handlers since they were children.

The Power of Spring Showers are Tornadoes and Flowers – Have a plan for Severe Weather!

The first week of March is Severe Weather Preparedness Week in North Carolina, to encourage you and your family to have a safety plan in case severe weather strikes and to practice what you will do, to have an emergency kit, and to have a way of getting weather alerts.

Tablets broaden horizons at Juvenile Justice facilities

A new Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention initiative will place tablet computers in the hands of justice-involved youth at all of the state’s youth development and juvenile detention centers, opening a world of new possibilities in the realms of education, behavioral health an

Partnerships, Dedication and Collaboration

Knowing that disaster sheltering in Warren County was a gap in capability, Director Tucker went in 2021 to the North Carolina Emergency Management Association’s conference and talked to other emergency managers about sheltering to learn all he could as he made his plans

Celebrating the NCEM Meteorologists on National Weatherperson’s Day

NC Emergency Management employees prepare North Carolinians for disasters in a variety of ways, but today we recognize one team that is essential in natural disasters. Today is National Weatherperson’s Day, so we are spotlighting two meteorologists who comprise the weather reporting team for the department.