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The New London and Tarheel Challenge Academy cadets used their newly refurbished bus Feb. 12 when cadets traveled to Raleigh to visit the state legislative building and the Museum of Natural Sciences. The former prison bus is a result of interagency cooperation among the Department of Public Safety's Fleet and Materials Management, Adult Correction and the North Carolina National Guard.The cadets' trip was used to reinforce classroom lessons about history and state government. The N.C. National Guard operates two Tarheel Challenge Academies in New London and Salemburg.

Administration Secretary Bill Daughtridge Jr. today presented Stanley C. Melvin, director of Pitt Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Greenville, with the prestigious John R. Larkins Award during the 2016 State Employees Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in downtown Raleigh. This award is the highest civil rights honor that can be won by a state employee.

Badge of Excellence awards were bestowed on 14 Department of Public Safety employees at a ceremony Jan. 21 held at the Joint Force Headquarters.DPS Secretary Frank Perry commended the work of the employees and quoted Aristotle on the meaning of excellence, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”“Today, we do not honor only their outstanding contributions,” Perry said, “but also a fantastic group of individuals whose very nature is to be excellent in what they do.”

Department of Public Safety Secretary Frank Perry addressed attendees of the 10th Annual Eastern North Carolina Gang Conference held at the University of Mount Olive on Jan. 7.“We have a growing, serious gang problem,” Perry said. “Ninety percent of violent crime is caused by gangs.” However, Perry said that North Carolina is ahead of most states in being on top of the gang problem because of the technological resources in place, good law enforcement and dedicated community groups.