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c7841497-c055-42a6-b4ca-9cab37142f72 #47, Handgun Policies and Technologies April 26, 2023 Sheriff Charles S. Blackwood Late last month, the General Assembly voted to override Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 41, Guarantee 2nd Amendment Freedom and Protections, effectively repealing state laws regarding issuance of pistol purchase permits by NC sheriffs. As a result, my office immediately stopped processing applications. Many people felt this change was an unsettling loss in the fight for better gun control. I want to share some of the policies and technologies used to keep guns out of the wrong hands and to hold accountable those who use them with criminal intent. Although North Carolinians no longer need a permit to purchase a pistol, the laws regarding carrying concealed handguns remain unchanged. Orange County residents wishing to carry a concealed handgun must complete an eight-hour handgun safety class approved by the state’s Criminal Justice Education and Standards Commission. Residents must then come to my office to apply for a concealed handgun permit, and my staff determines whether the applicants are eligible to receive one. Despite some misunderstanding, Senate Bill 41 does not deregulate gun sales. A firearms dealer must complete an instant background check on a buyer at the time of purchase. Known as a NICS check, this process is designed to reveal if the purchaser has any automatic disqualifiers. Examples of such disqualifiers include conviction of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison, a dishonorable discharge from the armed forces, or being the subject of certain court orders regarding intimate partner violence or danger to a child. If the NICS check reveals any disqualification, the dealer will deny the sale. Private purchases or transfers do not require a background check; however, it is illegal to knowingly transfer a handgun to a person who cannot lawfully possess it. Of course, people intent on carrying or using weapons sometimes steal weapons if they cannot legally purchase them. Unfortunately, many people do not store their legally acquired guns safely. Perhaps they want the weapon readily at hand; unfortunately, thieves know the accessible hiding spots. The same principle applies to the locations where motorists stash weapons – under the seat, in the center console, or in the glove compartment. Thieves check these places first. Please contact my office for a free gun lock or more information about safe firearm storage. Some people who cannot legally possess weapons seek to purchase them through unlawful means. A 2019 Department of Justice survey found that 43 percent of criminals purchased their weapons on the black market. Another eleven percent had someone else buy the weapon(s) for them; this practice is known as a straw purchase. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) formed a network of Crime Gun Intelligence Centers in 2016. This interagency collaboration collects, analyzes, and shares information about guns encountered by law enforcement, including guns used in crimes, and those that are lost, found, or of concern in domestic violence situations. The Intelligence Centers identify links using eTrace, a secure network that attempts to trace guns back to the point of last legal purchase. Studying these links can help develop leads that may link a suspect to a firearm, identify patterns that reveal firearms trafficking, and determine who engages in straw purchases. The ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Centers also use the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) as part of their violent crime reduction strategy. This technology helps investigators match ballistics evidence from separate crime scenes to reveal connections. When someone discharges a weapon, the firing pin strikes the shell casing causing an explosion, which propels the bullet forward down the barrel. Meanwhile, the extractor hooks the casing and pulls it from the chamber, ejecting it from the weapon. Both actions mark the shell casing in a unique fashion. In perhaps overly simplistic terms, each gun has a fingerprint it transfers to the shell casing. NIBIN scans and compares ballistic evidence from shooting scenes and recovered firearms, building a list of similar results. Trained technicians then work to determine whether the identified connection can be confirmed as a match. In fiscal year 2022, NIBIN locations acquired over 631,000 pieces of evidence and generated over 189,000 leads. The NIBIN technology efficiently processes such volume, which will continue to increase as more agencies submit evidence. Society continues to wrestle with balancing Second Amendment freedoms against the right to live safely in our communities. There are no obvious or easy answers. Please know I am working here in Orange County, and across the state through my involvement with the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association, to study the problems and find opportunities to propose workable solutions. I welcome your thoughts and ideas. Previous Next

01bdab09-5be4-4d7a-a794-35f98609e24b #12, Case Management in CID May 27, 2020 Sheriff Charles S. Blackwood In 2019, the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigated 660 cases, an amount comparable to the prior year. The classic “catch a suspect red-handed” case is relatively rare, but when it happens, the responding patrol deputy interviews involved parties, collects relevant evidence, and presents findings to a magistrate. If the magistrate finds there was probable cause for the arrest, he or she establishes pretrial release conditions and sets the first court date. Our CID is not involved. More often, a patrol deputy responds to a call for service or discovers a property crime while on patrol. If there is no suspect on scene or there is not enough evidence to arrest a suspect, the case is assigned to the CID. Before I explain further, let me make an important clarification. Some crimes are classified as misdemeanors; others are felonies. Misdemeanors are less serious crimes (shoplifting, for example, as compared to burglary or armed robbery), and they carry less severe punishments. The victim in a misdemeanor can appear before a magistrate on his or her own behalf and petition for a criminal summons or warrant. If issued, and the alleged suspect/defendant is served, the matter will then be handled in criminal court. By contrast, if the crime is a felony (for example, drug trafficking, assault with a deadly weapon, sexual assault, or murder) the victim cannot directly take out the charges. A law enforcement officer (or the district attorney) must appear before the magistrate and present evidence and testimony on the victim’s behalf before the charges can be filed. Eleven investigators serve in the CID. When a deputy receives a promotion to the division, he or she initially receives in-house training and specialized equipment such as a camera, a fingerprint processing kit, DNA sample kits, a gunshot residue kit, a measuring device, and evidence placards. He or she also attends off-site trainings in basic evidence collection, interview and interrogation, and case management. This latter course teaches the investigator how to prioritize tasks, organize evidence, pursue leads, document findings, and prepare the case for court. Two of our investigators are evidence specialists; other investigators have expertise in digital forensics; while still others have advanced training working with juvenile victims or sexual trauma. All are cross-trained because although they primarily work a regular schedule, they are each on-call one week at a time for murders, serious crimes, serious assaults, rapes, and unintended or suspicious deaths that occur outside of regular working hours. Once assigned a case, an investigator attempts to solve it through interviews, examination of evidence, verification of anonymous tips, or through further developments, such as when stolen items appear in pawn shops. If an arrest is made, the case is considered cleared. Last year, we cleared 165 cases by arrest. If the investigation reveals no crime actually occurred, the case will be cleared and categorized ‘unfounded.’ This occurred 53 times last year. If the prime suspect in a criminal matter dies before the case was solved, or if we learn the crime actually occurred in a different jurisdiction, an investigator will close the case as exceptionally cleared; this designation was used 11 times last year. A case may be designated as inactive if an investigator exhausts all leads and a month goes by in which no additional information is received. In such a situation, the case can be reactivated if someone provides additional information or if new technology becomes available. DNA is a classic example of this; as the science improves, many inactive cases become solvable. In rape or serious assault cases, the investigation remains open until the statute of limitations runs. There is no statute of limitations on murder cases. If not solved, murder cases remain open. Although there are perhaps no more leads and no further evidence to pursue, an investigator will periodically review the file to remain familiar with the facts of the case and to determine if new forensic methods could be employed. Investigators value providing closure to a victim or a victim’s family and improving the safety of the community through the prosecution of criminals. Despite our success last year, we carried thirty one active cases into this year. One hundred and ninety-five new cases have been assigned thus far in 2020. The Criminal Investigations Division will continue to pursue justice on behalf of victims, and I am proud of the commitment, compassion, and professionalism with which they approach their service to the residents of Orange County. Previous Next

8bc22b8c-495e-4862-8f68-6e0eb2e229be #24, Intern Program May 26, 2021 Sheriff Charles S. Blackwood This month, three interns completed semester-long experiences with my office. I want to tell you about them and encourage other students to consider coming to learn and grow with us. Kayla Kaminski had the most specialized experience of the three, coming to us with a strong interest in family services or assisting those experiencing domestic violence. As part of her degree requirements at Greensboro College, she worked with us four days a week, receiving four hours of academic credit. Serving almost exclusively with our Crisis Unit, Kayla learned about electronically filing domestic violence protective orders. She assisted Amber Keith-Drowns with domestic violence court and direct service to those affected by intimate partner violence. She also observed the judicial process in action as Deputy Faircloth served orders on defendants. Required by her program to complete a project that would benefit the office after her internship concluded, Kayla worked with Investigator Woodlief to create a spreadsheet tracking the inventory of sexual assault kits and serving as a database for communication with survivors. Kayla worked two extra weeks with us because she didn’t want to leave. She found “there was never a wrong question to ask,” and she reported “There is a lot of passion and respect here for the people we serve.” Terrance Higgins-Keziah, also interned for course credit, working an average of 28 hours a week while also taking on-line courses before graduating with a BS in Criminal Justice and a minor in Russian Studies from East Carolina University. He wrote a summary of his experience in the form of a thank you note to Lieutenant Whitehurst, through whom Terrance arranged his internship. My favorite line of that letter was, “I truly believe there is something magical about your agency.” What a compliment! Terrance learned about the nuanced civil process laws, helped people with weapon permit applications and background checks, gained insight into domestic violence, observed some of the technology used by our evidence technicians, rode with patrol on night shift, observed a death investigation, and field tested an instruction manual Investigator Baldwin wrote for our 3D laser camera. When asked if he had any advice for future interns with the office, Terrance said, “When I started, and this is applicable to life in general, I wish I knew to be more self- initiating…a lot of what ended up being most valuable started with me asking. Reach out to people around you – everyone is here for your benefit.” Our youngest intern, Moses King, 17, attended East Chapel Hill High School before receiving his GED. His goal is to become an officer in the United States Marine Corps. I met Moses while we were in his neighborhood investigating a threat to public safety. This was shortly after George Floyd’s murder; Moses reports his parents “freaked” to hear he had an interaction with law enforcement. Moses’s father came to see me a few days later, and together we agreed Moses might benefit from an internship with my office. Frankly, Moses was not very happy about the arrangement! Moses now reports he didn’t think law enforcement officers were approachable – he thought they were almost robots. I am so gratified he learned, in his words, that we are “actual people who care about you.” Moses became a valuable member of our team, helping answer inquiries at the front desk and fingerprinting people who needed that service. He had a particular interest in learning about patrol vehicles and the wireless technology involved with the lights and sirens. He therefore spent time working with Captain Fearrington and visiting the motor pool. In addition to exploring technology, meeting all sorts of people, and learning different perspectives, Moses found his experiences here were a catalyst for discussions with his friends, who generally had negative preconceived notions about law enforcement. Moses reports his friends have softened. He says when they see a deputy now, they think, “There go Moses’s people.” Moses will have an internship with a police department in Rwanda this summer. When he returns to the states, he will attend the Citadel this fall. I can’t tell you how proud I am to be one of Moses’s people! If you are considering an internship with our office, please explore our website and learn more about us. Of particular interest might be two videos you will find at www.ocsonc.com/video. If you think there is a place for you here, please contact me or Lt. Whitehurst. Let’s talk about whether we can design an experience to help you achieve your goals. Previous Next

955cc60a-4dc9-4409-82c7-0e5f275eea0c #71, Scams April 30, 2025 Sheriff Charles S. Blackwood When people get scammed, they sometimes hesitate to report what happened because they are embarrassed. However, almost anyone can fall into a sophisticated trap and make a judgment error. Scammers are highly trained, and good at what they do. They take advantage of people by exploiting fear, hooking into a desire for easy money, or manipulating social isolation or loneliness. First, let’s look at fear scam examples. A person claiming to be a deputy calls, informing you of a warrant for your arrest for missing jury duty. Pay the bond AT ONCE or be in jail by suppertime. Perhaps you open a text from E-ZPass with a final reminder about unpaid tolls. PAY NOW or incur additional fines and face legal action. Maybe you get a call about your grandchild on spring break in a foreign county, now jailed because of bad judgment or hospitalized following a horrific car crash. Wire money WITHOUT DELAY before he or she misses the flight home or dies because of lack of medical care. If you hear high-pressure scare tactics like these, activate your skepticism. Remember that panic is the enemy of clear thought. Tell the deputy to call you back in 10 minutes. Ask yourself how E-ZPass would have your phone number. Think about why the “jail” or “hospital” called you, not your grandchild’s parent. One thing is certain. No representative of a legitimate agency will ask for payment in Walmart (or other) gift cards or crypto currency. Hang up on anyone who does. Likewise, no representative from a utility company, financial firm, or government office should have an issue if you ask for a written description of the alleged problem. Another common ruse is for scammers to look for people willing to forget common sense when faced with a great deal. For example, a scammer might offer to pay $5,000 for a car listed for $3,000 on Facebook Marketplace. Someone might offer to pay thousands of dollars to anyone willing to help him or her claim a large inheritance. In both cases, the scammer counts on the victim being so eager for easy money that he or she will eventually slip and act against his or her own self-interest. The best defense is to remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is! I think there is a special place in hell for those who take advantage of elderly, isolated, or lonely people. Some criminals form on-line relationships with teenagers and slowly build trust. Eventually, the scammer asks for and receives sensitive photos which he or she then uses to blackmail the victim. Other scammers target elderly people, perhaps those whose spouse recently died. As daily contact becomes a vital emotional connection, long-distance romance blossoms, soon followed by requests for ever-increasing amounts of money. Eventually, the victim ends up with an empty wallet and a broken heart. Worldwide, scammers bilked people out of more than an estimated trillion dollars in 2024. Often employed in organized call centers, they receive training, work from a script, and have fake credentials. Some even receive voice coaching to help them either exaggerate or minimize an accent. Unfortunately, artificial intelligence tools are increasing the sophistication of the industry even further. Although some scammers get caught and serve significant federal prison sentences, these crimes are difficult to prosecute. Call centers are often in other countries where we do not have arrest powers, and collaboration with overseas law enforcement agencies can be a complicated, slow process. Scammers use sophisticated layers of technology, including virtual private networks, encryption, and burner phones. They can make it appear they are calling from a local number, despite being thousands of miles away. They change numbers, networks, and tactics constantly, frustrating law enforcements’ efforts to ascertain patterns and gather sufficient evidence for arrest or conviction. Furthermore, scammers usually require hard-to-trace payment such as gift cards, bitcoin, or wire transfers. Reporting a scam to law enforcement rarely leads to recovering money, but it is still a good idea. We can help limit the possibility of additional loss by educating victims about next steps to take, including placing alerts with credit bureaus. Additionally, each victim’s experience helps investigators learn new patterns and emerging criminal trends, helping us prevent others from suffering similar losses. When it comes to scams, prevention is easier than prosecution. Please educate yourself about this growing problem. Share what you learn with family and friends, especially those who might be vulnerable. Watch our Facebook page to learn about increased local activity or new twists on old routines. Call our Community Services Division at 919-245-2921 for more information. ### Previous Next

2b1d6479-c37f-4831-a881-7b6e987664f6 #63, OC Alerts, and an escaped convict August 28, 2024 Sheriff Charles S. Blackwood Two weeks ago, we were actively searching for convicted murderer Ramone Alston who jumped from a North Carolina Department of Adult Correction (DAC) transport vehicle upon arriving at UNC Hospital in Hillsborough. On foot, he headed north across Waterstone Drive and through a residential area. A witness saw him running past a neighborhood swimming pool, still wearing a belly chain and handcuffs. Shortly thereafter, he vanished into the woods. As an agency, our primary responsibility is to keep Orange County residents and visitors safe and able to move freely about their lives. Therefore, our top goals were to protect our community from Alston while assisting DAC with their efforts to capture him. Alston evaded capture for 67 hours before law enforcement officers removed him from a hotel room in Kannapolis 110 miles away and returned him to DAC custody. I want to share what we were doing in the interim and tell you about a critical service that can keep you informed in a variety of crisis situations. A search for an escaped prisoner requires resources and organization. After establishing a law-enforcement perimeter around the hospital campus, initiating K-9 searches, and deploying drone units to watch for Alston from the sky, I contacted Emergency Services Director Kirby Saunders and requested his help. Orange County Emergency Management (OCEM) is responsible for the preparedness, prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery from all hazards in Orange County. As such, OCEM arranged for the Orange County Campus of Durham Technical Community College to be our command center and began organizing hundreds of law enforcement officers arriving to help with the manhunt. Almost immediately, the OCEM team pushed out a message using a reverse 911 process and the OC Alerts notification system to many of the people living within a three-mile radius of the hospital campus. The message provided a description of Alston and told residents what to do if they saw him. Unfortunately, such “push messages” do not reach as many people as would be ideal. When most people had landline telephones, reverse 911 systems could blanket residents within defined geographical areas. Now, almost 75% of people in the US only use wireless phones. Therefore, it is critical for people without a landline to register their cell phones with OC Alerts. Currently, this valuable system is vastly underutilized. Although the Orange County population is approximately 150,000, only 12,853 people are registered. That is only 8.5 percent! Many people believe they will receive all relevant messages because they have received an AMBER alert or other safety message that “blew up” their phone. That belief is incorrect. Emergency management personnel can blanket all phones in an area in only two types of emergencies. The situation must either meet very specific and regulated qualifiers such as in the case of an AMBER or Blue alert, or the danger must pose a critical threat to everyone in the area. A critical threat might require evacuation or cause near-certain death if residents do not take immediate action. Examples include dam failures, airborne toxic chemicals, or raging and fast-moving wildfires. Please go to www.ReadyOrange.org for information about disaster and emergency preparedness. The link to sign up for OC alerts is prominent in the middle of this page. Create an account, provide your phone number or email, and select the type of alerts you want to receive. The system allows you to identify special needs you or your family may have. Additionally, you can indicate whether you have specialized training or are willing to volunteer your skills or equipment during a crisis. You can also go directly to the sign-up page at www.ocalertsnc.com . Returning to the events of two weeks ago, about two hours after issuing the first OC Alert, OCEM sent a second, similar message. This time they hit all landlines and registered cell phones within a five-mile radius. Obviously, the longer Alston was on the move, the farther away he could be, so they targeted a wider area. We continued the ground search for two days: 335 members from 19 law enforcement agencies thoroughly covered 1335 acres. When finished, we could say with confidence that Alston was no longer in Orange County. Meanwhile, investigators continued their intelligence operation, gathering and analyzing the information that ultimately led to locating Alston. He is now in a maximum-security prison, and we arrested two people for aiding and abetting his escape. We are extremely grateful to our OCEM partners – they are unsung heroes. Please thank them by creating or updating your existing OC Alert account. ### Previous Next

945d9872-a71c-446e-b734-0a2cadb6b693 < Back ONE ARRESTED, ONE STILL AT LARGE FOLLOWING BREAK IN June 30, 2025 Hillsborough, NC (June 30, 2025) – Investigators with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office took out charges against two men following a residential breaking and entering of an unoccupied dwelling between the end of May and the first week of June. Thieves stole more than $10,000 worth of property from the home, including building materials and appliances. The property owner discovered the thefts on June 7, 2025, when he returned to a house he is renovating off Highway 70A just outside of the Hillsborough city limits. He had last been at the address on May 29. Beginning with evidence located on scene, investigators established probable cause to obtain a search warrant for the Rougemont residence of William Cox, 34. Upon execution of that warrant, they located some of the stolen property. After further investigation, they obtained a search warrant for a storage building in Durham County where they recovered additional items. On June 18, 2025, law enforcement officers arrested Cox, serving him with warrants for breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, and conspiracy. He is currently out on bond. Additionally, investigators took out warrants for Zacharia Warnke, 37, also of Rougemont, charging him with the same crimes. Warnke’s whereabouts are unknown, although investigators believe he is still in the local area. If you have information about Warnke’s whereabouts, please call Investigator Campbell at (919) 245-2907. ### Previous Next 1/0

445713af-7362-4fc8-a99f-ba66e3a46c3b #19, Year in Review, 2020 December 30, 2020 Sheriff Charles S. Blackwood If you enjoy a good understatement, how’s this one? This year has been difficult. However, despite the pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism, and in many ways because of them, there have been upsides. For example, we are working with other components of the justice system and involved stakeholders in new ways. These efforts have resulted in innovative approaches and initiatives that are both efficient and economical. We can see this in bond reform and other efforts to lower the population in the Detention Center. These new procedures allow for the effective and safe pre-trial management of alleged offenders in the community. I will write more about this subject in a future column. For this year-end-review edition of The Lowdown, I asked my staff to reflect on other 2020 upsides. Captain Nate Fearrington related how much he enjoyed our annual Shop with a Sheriff event. He said, “Even though we couldn’t actually shop with the kids due to COVID-19, we were still able to purchase wish list items and bundle them into Santa sacks for special delivery. It made me feel good to hear employees and other shoppers say how proud they were that we ‘made a way out of no way’ and continued our tradition.” Tom Parker, one of our IT Specialists, mentioned several highlights. We converted many desktop computers to notebooks, allowing staff to work remotely. He is really excited about SmartForce, a new work management system used to communicate more efficiently across divisions. Additionally, a new database streamlined our training records, and we are preparing to launch a new app, giving the public tools to interface with us directly from their Smartphones. Watch for that in 2021. Captain Tina Sykes, who directs our School Resource Officer Program as well as the Training Division, noted, “We donated more than 6,200 items of food to the Orange County Schools Holiday Food Drive. We pitted the nine divisions in the office against each other, and the competition was ferocious. It tickled me to see them try to outdo each other, driving up the value of the matching donation promised by the Command Staff.” Tim Jones, Captain of the Detention Division, answered my query with a personal anecdote. “I had a very unfortunate tib/fib break to my leg, which kind of summed up the year 2020. I was out of work for over a month. I quickly learned the friendships made at the Office extend way past quitting time. From calls, to visits, and of course, food, I was astonished with the amount of caring I received from folks at the Sheriff’s Office and from the wider community. Ashley Woodlief, a sergeant with the Criminal Investigations Division, noted the year began with the sentencing of John Russell Whit – the long awaited conclusion to a 1998 case in which a lawn mowing crew found the skeletonized remains of a 10-year-old boy. Closing that cold case helped another agency solve his mother’s related murder. Woodlief and her colleagues are pleased that for the fifth year in a row, they solved all new homicide cases, and she is relieved there were only two! Deputy David Funk is one of our three K9 handlers. He reports the dogs assisted with over 300 calls, located 23 people, found 117 items of evidence, and sniffed out 10.25 pounds of narcotics. Individual highlights included K9 Tres running a successful track following a hit and run, despite the track being almost five hours old. Callie located a suspect from a different wreck who had buried himself and a large amount of narcotics, while Zar helped the Highway Patrol locate a firearm thrown from a vehicle during a traffic stop. Community Services Division Major Kevin Jones is most proud of the way his division and the Department on Aging collaborated to take the place of the volunteers who usually deliver meals to seniors in the community. “Due to COVID-19, our deputies, in partnership with the municipal police departments, delivered more than 2,000 hot lunches, emphasizing the ‘serve’ part of our duties. We also coordinated the distribution of more than 2,200 food boxes, and we delivered more than 2,000 meal kits donated by Food Lion.” My Chief Deputy Jamison Sykes summed it up well. He said, “This was a hard year, and a strange year. We are ending it tired. But it’s the good kind of tired; the kind where you know you worked hard and you will sleep well, and you are excited to see what tomorrow will bring.” Previous Next

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Provide information to the LifeTrack database so the Orange County Sheriff's Office can better respond to calls involving individuals with disabilities. LifeTrack Do you have a loved one at risk of wandering off or getting lost? Would he or she have trouble asking for help or communicating his or her name and address? Consider our LifeTrack rapid response program. Enrolled clients wear a bracelet or anklet containing a battery-operated transmitter. If the client becomes lost, we respond with a mobile receiver to help find him or her quickly. On average, the missing person enrolled in LifeTrack is located within 30 minutes. LifeTrack and Josh's Hope are databases used by the Sheriff's Office to share critical information with our deputies when responding to calls involving individuals with cognitive, mental health, or other intellectual disabilities. Thank you for taking the time to complete the form below for your loved one. If you have any additional questions please contact: 1st Lieutenant Daniel Roberson: at troberson@orangecountync.gov or call: (919) 245-2921 Corporal Doug Moats at: dmoats@orangecountync.gov or call: (919) 245-2914

In memory of the murder of Deputy Joe Nichols in Orange County NC. CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION In Memoriam The Murder of Deputy Joe Nichols of Orange County General Information Deputy Duncan Joseph Nichols, 44, died on September 9, 1904, from a gunshot wound he suffered in the line of duty. With the help of researchers and librarians at the Orange County Library in Hillsborough, the Government and Heritage Library in Raleigh, and the Wilson Library at UNC-Chapel Hill, we were able to gather many articles about the death of Deputy Nichols, and some ancestry information about his family. In short, James Knapp Horner, 58, shot Deputy Nichols in the arm when Nichols went to serve a warrant on him. The warrant alleged that Knapp whipped his daughter-in-law. The deputy died from a severed artery before making it back to his home at the Caldwell Institute. A posse captured Horner on September 12, shooting him in the right side, but only lightly wounding him. Horner spent one night in the Orange jail. Officials transferred him to Durham to await his 1905 trial, at which the court found Knapp guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced him to 12 years in prison. Deputy Nichols’ grave is in the Little River Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Hurdle Mills. At the time of his death, his parents, William Allen Nichols and Martha E. Nichols, his wife, Pattie Martha Miller, nine of his 11 brothers and sisters, and three children survived. Nichols’ death came 80 years prior to the founding of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) in 1984. This nonprofit organization built and now maintains the national memorial to fallen officers. Public Information Officer Alicia Stemper researched Nichols’ death and made application to the Fund in 2021. In August of that year, the Fund approved the application and Nichols’s name is now engraved into memorial wall with the names of other officers who made the ultimate sacrifice. The following May, representatives from our office traveled to Washington, DC to view the unveiling of Nichols’ name on the monument, attend the annual candlelight memorial service with two of Deputy Nichols’ great-grandsons, and to hear his name read aloud, a moment that formally verified and recognized his long-ago sacrifice.

497b0929-e6c6-4a6c-b3bd-a1bc4ffd4787 #2, OC Alerts August 21, 2019 Sheriff Charles S. Blackwood This article is a monthly feature in the News of Orange; it usually runs in the first monthly edition of the paper. However, I am writing this extra column to make readers aware of a vastly underutilized safety service available in our county; one so important I did not want to wait for September. I will begin by describing the situation we faced last week. Wednesday morning a 75-year-old person with dementia wandered away from home in the early morning hours. After conducting a quick search, her husband reported her missing. Following an intense, coordinated search effort, rescuers found her at late Friday morning, almost 53 hours later, lying in a creek. Although she needed medical assessment and treatment for exposure, she suffered no serious injuries. Statistics tell us that 75% of lost people with dementia are located within 1.2 miles of their last known point; this proved accurate in this case. When found, the woman was only .5 miles from her home and approximately 400 yards from the back of the nearest house. We had a magnificent response from the statewide response management system. In all, more than 325 people from 36 agencies assisted in the search, and we had many more willing to help. We primarily used people with specialized training in search and rescue. Given the difficult wooded terrain, dense foliage, extreme humidity, and deep ravines, the search was a surprisingly technical. Searchers moved about on hands and knees in some areas. We also used many canine assets; these dogs provided information about where she had likely been. People with dementia tend to “ping pong” off obstacles, especially when lost. Consequently, the dogs did not have one scent trail to follow. It is possible the woman crisscrossed the terrain before ultimately landing in the creek. The behavior profile for lost people with dementia predicts searchers will find the missing person in brush, along fence lines, in an outbuilding, or in a low-lying area. The lost person will often not call out to rescuers, even when they are passing nearby. We therefore needed to contact all nearby residents to ask them to search their properties carefully, particularly crawl spaces, gardens, vehicles, and under decks. Unfortunately, we had limited ability to make direct contact with residents of that area because only about a dozen people had registered their phones with the reverse 911 system. Usually used to warn people of danger such as severe weather, environmental hazards, or nearby criminal activity, we wanted to use this system to provide instructions about the specific assistance we needed from the woman’s neighbors. When most people had landline telephones, reverse 911 systems had the ability to penetrate deeply into defined geographical areas. Now, few people have landlines, and people must opt in to register their cell phones. This has greatly diminished our ability to reach large numbers of people quickly. In Orange County, OC Alerts is an invaluable tool to enhance YOUR safety. Not only would it have been useful to get specific messaging out to the missing person’s neighbors, it allows emergency management personnel to provide critical, time sensitive information in a variety of situations. If your neighborhood is under an evacuation order, for instance, you want to know that information as soon as possible. Please go to www.ReadyOrange.org . This page contains information about disaster and emergency preparedness. The link to sign up for OC alerts is prominent in the middle of this page. Create an account, provide your contact numbers, and check the boxes to identify which type of alerts you want to receive. The system also allow you to identify special needs you or your family may have, and you can indicate if you have specialized training or are willing to volunteer your skills or equipment during a crisis situation. [Select GMT: Eastern Standard Time America/New York as your time zone.] I am delighted this search ended successfully. The event highlighted the amazing spirit and can-do attitude among people who choose emergency services as their life’s work. We are so grateful for the flood of resources we had from all over the state, and we appreciate each donation, every call of support, and all the people who volunteered, whether we were able to deploy them or not. The men and women of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office work every day to improve the public safety of people who live in or travel through our area. Please do your part to help us help you. Register your phone(s) with OC Alerts. Remember: If we can't reach you, we can't alert you! Previous Next

99dac276-5c74-4d03-a970-d66e377c3d4b #18, Thanksgiving November 25, 2020 Sheriff Charles S. Blackwood I’ve spoken before in this column about musician James Taylor who said, “You actually have to really defend your time in order to have a long thought.” As Sheriff of this vibrant and engaged community, I’m a busy guy. Time for the valuable long thought is not always easy to come by, but I try to find it when I can. I attended the North Carolina Sheriffs Association (NCSA) conference earlier this month, and the drive to Atlantic Beach was one such opportunity. I had miles and miles to be alone in my head and reflect on this year, the community I serve, and the Thanksgiving holiday. Others have said much about the difficulties of 2020. I certainly agree, but my focus today is gratitude. I used my long thought time to do some blessing counting. I started by looking backward. My parents built a foundation of love, support, and encouragement. They always stressed the importance of being respectful of others. My teachers and coaches shared practical and philosophical lessons I continue to use. I am grateful for these positive influences. I then thought about my family life and personal blessings; I am especially grateful for my children and my wife Lisa. As you might imagine, a Sheriff is never off duty. Many conversations and meals with my wife are interrupted by calls or texts, and our plans are frequently altered or canceled. Mind you, I am not complaining – I am celebrating Lisa’s constant ability to provide flexibility, tolerance, and support. I also want to celebrate my mother’s return to health after surgery for a broken hip. This year also brought me one of the happiest blessings ever – our grandson. Watching him grow and thrive is an endless source of delight, and I love seeing our daughter and his father blossom as parents. The people who serve with me at the Sheriff’s Office are stellar. I hope their professionalism, dedication, and commitment to the health and safety of this community are as evident to you as they are to me. One of the hidden blessings of COVID-19 has been the opportunity to see them demonstrate the ability to be flexible in the face of uncertainty and adapt their service to the emerging and changing demands of a pandemic. Additionally, they grappled with shock and outrage caused by the Minneapolis police officers’ killing of George Floyd. They stood tall against the notion that all law enforcement officers behave that way or tolerate such behavior in their coworkers. It is a profound blessing to lead people who are proud to serve and willing to bear scrutiny because they have confidence in themselves and each other. They trust the work we do and the way we do it. They believe public scrutiny will help us continually improve, and allow our community to see both our integrity and professional approach to service. Finally, I spent time on my drive thinking about one of the biggest blessings of all, which is that the people of this County placed their trust in me to serve as their Sheriff, first in 2014 and again in 2018. I look forward to continuing to serve in that capacity, especially now, during this time where we are being asked to work on real and lasting change within the criminal justice system. This is a unique county, full of people also dedicated to service, change, and growth. As a younger man, I thought communities were primarily different only in their geography or population. But over the years, I have come to realize communities have distinct personalities. I understand so much more than I used to about how profoundly fortunate I am to live and serve here in Orange County. I appreciate what an asset it is to have a world-class university contributing to our quality of life and our vibrancy. Our elected leaders are committed and compassionate. We have an astonishing array of non-profit agencies working steadily to improve the lives and living conditions of others. We have high levels of volunteer engagement. It is a blessing to lead in such a dynamic community. There is no doubt that 2020 has been a difficult year. However, I am convinced there is value in the process of deliberate reflection on the positive. I encourage all of you to find time over the Thanksgiving holiday for some long-thought blessing counting. The experience certainly put a bounce in my step and some cheer in my heart. I wish the same for you. Previous Next