DPS Dispatch

An internship is a great way for someone to determine a career path. Sometimes the internship “path” can take one on a different route to the same job as others.

A few weeks ago on the morning of Aug. 31, Robeson Confinement in Response to Violation (CRV) Center and Geo Reentry Services joined forces to make International Overdose Awareness Day a memorable occasion. What the staff didn’t know was that this event would become more impactful than they could have imagined.

Lincoln Correctional Center has a long history of community involvement. As part of its commitment to helping those in need, the facility donates large quantities of produce to the local food banks, women's shelters and other organizations every year.

Every day, the more than 2,000 officers of Community Corrections carry out their sometimes unheralded mission as Probation/Parole Officers for the State of North Carolina. 

While you might not have noticed them in your community, they provide critical public service at all hours of the day and night.

Class 20 became the Class of ’22.

The 20th crop of future leaders in Adult Corrections was supposed to finish the year-long Corrections Leadership Development Program back in 2020. Then COVID-19 struck.

It’s hard to imagine a child who’s never experienced the smell of a forest while standing in the middle of a host of majestic trees swaying in the breeze; never experienced the sound of lake waves lapping onto the shore; or felt the joy of overcoming a fear of heights in front of their peers.

That’s the case with many juveniles housed in state youth development centers or juvenile detention centers. However, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, more than 40 juveniles enjoyed (some for the first time) a camping experience at Camp Willow Run in Littleton during the week of May 29-June 3.

And the winner is…. A group of Community Corrections employees and partners who dealt with an unprecedented issue that led to a project never before attempted in the department got a special award for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The award was presented during the recent North Carolina Probation Parole Association training institute in Durham recently.

The career of a correctional officer is not an easy one. It is a position that has many challenges and requires a sharp focus on safety, professionalism, and integrity in order to keep themselves and those in state-custody safe. It is a role where if done well, they can inspire and help an offender to succeed once released. Right now, finding new correctional officers has been a challenge in North Carolina and across the nation, but one family that has been with the state for a combined total of 70 years has certainly risen to that challenge. Three generations of the Furr family have worked as correctional officers for the state of North Carolina within the Department of Public Safety (DPS). 

On a warm spring morning in early April, Laura Grater, an engineering team lead for the North Carolina Emergency Management Hazard Mitigation section, took her place in a barber’s chair at Raleigh Beer Garden for what some would consider a life changing event.

After a two-year delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Reentry Programs and Services successfully hosted the 2022 North Carolina Reentry Conference at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro on April 26-27. A pre-conference workshop on April 25 focused on effective correctional education strategies that prepare returning citizens for reentry and reduce recidivism.

In her role as warden at Caswell Correctional Center, Doris Daye sees acts of greatness every day. As a leader, she understands just how important it is to recognize and reward employees who go above and beyond their duties.

DPS and Prisons leadership and staff took time today to memorialize correctional employees who have died in the line of duty. The annual observance took place during Correctional Officers and Correctional Employees Week with a ceremony held at the Randall Building in downtown Raleigh.

From the mountains to the sea, law enforcement officers from across North Carolina gathered today at a memorial service for the 30 uniformed men and women who died in the line of duty over the past year.

Every day, criminal justice policymakers across the country make critical decisions that affect the lives and safety of the American public.