The Lowdown Archive

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.

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Spearheaded by the long-time advocacy and hard work of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation and the Chicago Park District organized the first Special Olympics Summer Games for people with intellectual disabilities in July 1968. Approximately 1,000 athletes participated. Five million people now participate annually in competitions across the globe. In fact, three athletes from North Carolina returned earlier this month from the Winter Games in Turin, Italy.

Special Olympics North Carolina (SONC) is one of the largest Special Olympics programs in the world, providing more than 40,000 athletes year-round opportunities to participate, train, and compete in more than two dozen sports. In May, the SONC will hold the Summer Games at venues in Cary, Holly Springs, and Raleigh, with over 1,300 competitors.

Registered athletes participate in Special Olympics free of charge. They do not pay for uniforms, awards, facility usage, transportation, or training fees. Many fundraising efforts make participation possible, and I want to highlight the important contribution of law enforcement officers, starting with the well-known Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR).

The LETR began in 1981 when six police officers in Wichita, Kansas raised $300.00 carrying what is now known as the Flame of Hope. Three years later, the International Chiefs of Police endorsed Special Olympics as their official charity. Law enforcement officers from federal, state, county, local, tribal, and military agencies have since raised more than one billion dollars, all while increasing awareness of the capabilities and achievements of participants. I participated in the torch run three times earlier in my career.

Today, the Law Enforcement Torch Run is nearly as synonymous with Special Olympics as cookie sales are with Girl Scouts. Locally, our torch run raises money primarily through T-shirt sales. Officials will announce the date for this year’s local event soon.

I recently read an article by Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Captain Ernest Bille, who attended the International LETR conference in November 2024. In it, he discussed the Special Olympic Athletes’ Oath which participants recite before every competition: “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

Within its simplicity, a law enforcement officer can find profound meaning and draw analogies between the principles of competition and the ideals and values of our profession. Captain Bille began by defining what winning means to a deputy or officer. We strive to return home safely after each shift while also behaving with integrity, serving with courage, treating others with professionalism, and protecting our communities.

He then examined the “But if I cannot win…” portion of the oath, which hints at the challenges law enforcement professionals face. We encounter persistent societal issues. Routinely, we face the dark and grim realities of violence, mental illness, death, and addiction. As Captain Bille notes, “…we establish and hold the line – we don’t cross it,” no matter the level of frustration, the challenging actions of others, or our frequent inability to fix the entrenched problems of those who seek our help. Even when we cannot achieve our desired outcome, we can still “win” by behaving ethically.

In the oath’s conclusion, “…let me be brave in the attempt,” we hear a plea for the strength to approach our duties with the same idealism that originally called us to service. Noble intentions can waver when battered by stress, emotional strain, and the risk of injury or death. I have written previously about the toll critical incidents take on deputies. Most people have two or three such exposures in a lifetime; law enforcement officers have 18 PER YEAR. We see a tremendous amount of trauma in our work. It takes courage to put oneself out there again and again without developing a jaded perspective or a calloused heart.

Athletes with intellectual disabilities demonstrate optimism and perseverance despite numerous challenges. In our own way, law enforcement professionals do the same. Captain Bille seems to suggest these parallels explain why we are so passionate about fundraising for Special Olympians: we are inspired by their resiliency and salute their courage.

In Orange County, we also participate in other Special Olympic fundraising efforts. In April, we have a seven-person team competing at RDU Airport in a Pull the Plane competition. Which agency’s team can move a 50,000-pound plane 25 feet in the shortest time? In October, we hold a golf tournament, and there are rumors about a polar plunge next winter.

Please watch for these opportunities to support Special Olympians or go to sonc.net to donate. Thank you.

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So much in life depends on perspective. For example, the fact that I am midway through my third term strikes me as mildly interesting. But the fact that I’ve been serving as Sheriff for over 10 years blows my mind!

When first elected, I worried about taking the reins of a large agency with varied, complex, and sometimes dangerous responsibilities. My predecessor served for 32 years, and agencies can be slow to change. I remain pleasantly surprised at how quickly we established a new organizational culture by focusing on open communication. I prioritized providing the training, equipment, and support the staff deserved. I knew I wanted members of my staff to be the best possible versions of themselves, but I did not realize yet how much watching them improve, grow, and achieve their goals would mean to me personally.

Although a sheriff is obviously a law enforcement professional, I spend most of my time communicating with others and building relationships.  Through interactions with the chiefs of surrounding agencies, members of community groups, and local, state, and federal leaders, I’ve learned the importance of establishing partnerships before the blue and red lights flash. Trust is hard won and easily broken, and nurturing these connections is one of the most impactful ways I can support my staff and improve community safety. In law enforcement, trust is everything.

I thought it might be interesting to share which technological advancement I feel revolutionized law enforcement the most during the last decade, and I really tried to answer this question. I considered our improved ballistic protection, safer vehicles, in-car data terminals, incredible optics and scopes on our firearms, social media connectivity, body worn cameras, mobile phone applications, radios with improved interoperability, advanced cell phone technology, and our drone fleet. But as I grew increasingly frustrated trying to identify the most stunning technological advance, I realized something truly profound. No piece of technology will ever compare to the dedication of those who step forward to serve. Shiny new toys and capabilities are great, but humans will always be the X-factor.

Readers might wonder if I can point to a single event that impacted our agency the most thus far in my tenure. Without a doubt, that would be the senseless murders of 14-year-old Lyric Woods and 18-year-old Devin Clark in September 2022. This case hit home for many of us, especially those with children. My daughter, now a mother herself, tells me she finally understands why I always told her before she left the house, “Be careful and be smart.” A case like that changes a community. Horror, grief, fear, and outrage can leave us all struggling to remember that although evil exists, it is still a beautiful world.

If I could obliterate one issue from the landscape of Orange County, I would choose opioids. Over the past decade, countless calls directly involved, or resulted from, the use of these drugs. This list includes break-ins, people stealing from family and friends, the exacerbation of mental illnesses, profound impacts on personal relationships, and a tendency to increase poverty.

I’ve experienced two major personal changes during my tenure: the death of my mother and the births of my grandchildren. My mother was proud to see me become Sheriff, and although I miss her, I am grateful for the lessons she taught me and the sacrifices she and my father made. I try to honor her legacy of service before self, and I hope to pass those lessons to my three- and five-year-old grandsons. My love for them is deeper than I can explain. At their young ages, all they really understand is that I am like Woody the Sheriff, their favorite character from the movie Toy Story, but I hope one day they will be proud of me, too.

Nothing about being Sheriff has changed my favorite food or my favorite day of the year. I still love a cheeseburger with mustard, chili, onions, and slaw, and I still love my birthday, February 19, because it marks important progress toward warmer weather and abundant daylight. I hate the cold and find winter depressing, but soon after my birthday, color begins to return, and a dormant landscape awakens.

The saying “Love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life,” rings true for me. After 10 years as sheriff and over 40 in the Sheriff’s Office, I remain excited to come to work every day. I am grateful to the voters for their trust, and I thank my family, my staff, and their families for their continued dedication and support.

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Earlier this month, just after posting a news release about a missing teenager, we received four media inquiries asking if we thought the child were in danger. Shortly thereafter, a social media follower expressed a desire for us to provide at least minimal context for missing teen news releases and requested we include whether we believed the child was voluntarily missing.

These inquiries concern me because they may signal the first step in a dismissive process. I understand that people want to know into which mental box they should file the situation: might this be something that affects everyone in the community such as a kidnapper, serial killer, sexual predator or the like? Or is this perhaps an unhappy or headstrong teen and therefore of no pressing concern to anyone other than the child’s immediate family and friends? The possibility that readers might reach this latter conclusion bothers me a great deal. No one should be comfortable when adults cannot locate a 15-year-old, no matter the reason.

Rest assured, if we issue a news release that begins with the sentence, “The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help,” it is because we are concerned for someone’s safety. We want people to rally around that fact, keep their eyes open for the missing person, and maybe even ask their own children if they know anything that might be useful. We do not want, and cannot afford, for anyone to dismiss the situation.

A child missing for any reason is endangered. Regardless of whether a teen ran away, or perhaps just snuck out of the house, if that child stays gone several hours or even days, the outcomes all too often are not good. The situation is therefore an urgent one, and as a community that cares about its youth, we need to treat it accordingly. If someone is missing, it means we don’t know where he or she is or if he or she is safe, and therefore the context does not matter. We simply cannot declare that such a person is not in danger.

Let’s talk about teenagers for a minute. I would wager that almost everyone (except people older than 12 and younger than 20!) would agree that adolescents, in general, are not known for their careful consideration before acting. Many would also remember some of the decisions they made at that age and cringe, maybe with horror, at how impulsive or ill-advised some of their choices were.

My mother used to say, “Nothing good ever happens after 11 o’clock.” Although I used to hate that expression, as a parent and grandparent, I understand now what she meant. Too many kids die in crashes, commit stupid pranks that turn out to be criminal acts, become victims of sexual assault, flop in unsafe residential spaces, ingest questionable substances, or trust the wrong person who offers to buy them a hamburger.

My communications manager reports that others have accused her (apparently more than once!) of getting lost in the weeds. But she repeatedly tells me she will not say that a missing child or teenager is not in any danger as a code for “this kid is a runaway.” She firmly believes that if no adult knows - at least vaguely - the whereabouts of an adolescent, there might be a problem. She also understands that sometimes, the teen leaves home because the very adult(s) who should be protecting that child are doing anything but.

However, she is not insensitive to the human tendency to seek additional information to contextualize the situation. She therefore includes information to help readers frame their understanding of the circumstances surrounding the child’s disappearance. If she writes that a teen “left his residence” she is not-too-subtly hinting that the child did not suffer a kidnapping. If she adds information about where the child might be (“possibly in the White Cross area”), there is a strong possibility that deputies have some inkling about where - or in whose company- the missing person might be. Likewise, if my communication manager does not include suspect details, recommendations for increased vigilance, or information about a ransom note, she is probably telegraphing that the community at large has nothing to fear. Instead, we simply need help finding a vulnerable person. I support her approach, and we will continue to report the facts as we know them.

To sum it up in one sentence, a missing child is an endangered child, and we are not going to tell you otherwise.

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I often emphasize the importance of partnerships and the power of working together towards a common goal. I also tend to get reflective in December! As we close out the year, two events stand out as examples of how partnerships prove essential to our ability to serve the public and respond effectively to crises.

Law enforcement officers, emergency responders, and members of the criminal justice community form partnerships in three primary ways. We network at conferences and trainings, where we learn, compare strategies, and swap stories about our successes and challenges. We form alliances while serving on various boards or committees where we have opportunities to brainstorm and hear about the experiences of others. We also forge these bonds in the field when we respond to crises affecting multiple jurisdictions and involving more than our own area of expertise. Coalitions formed during rapidly evolving, tense, and dangerous situations tend to be particularly strong.

One situation exemplifying the power of partnerships occurred this past summer as multiple agencies worked together to find a convicted murderer who escaped from North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections (DAC) personnel as their transport van arrived at the UNC Hospital in Hillsborough.  The inmate traveled through unincorporated Orange County, across multiple jurisdictions, and eventually to Kannapolis more than 100 miles away.

I quickly contacted Emergency Services Director Kirby Saunders. From past collaborations, I knew the value of his skills and capabilities. We have worked many critical incidents together searching for lost people, and an escaped prisoner is a missing person who doesn’t want to be found.

Thanks to my relationship with Director Saunders and other strong, pre-existing partnerships, I assembled a multi-jurisdictional, cross-disciplinary team within hours. This group then efficiently conducted a massive manhunt lasting several days before successfully returning the person to DAC custody. But here’s an interesting twist: while I was feeling gratitude for longstanding partnerships, new relationships were forming, one of which would prove instrumental prior to the end of the year!

Let me explain. During the search, Director Saunders met and worked with Kenneth Smith, Chief of Emergency Preparedness for DAC, and saved his contact information. In late September, Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, causing catastrophic destruction, death, and trauma. The storm obliterated power, water, and communications systems and washed away roads. People were trapped, injured, or unaccounted for, and downed trees and missing bridges hampered search and rescue efforts.

Although all first responder agencies have a role to play in such disasters, preparing for and coordinating the response to such an event are some of the primary functions of emergency management professionals like Director Saunders and Chief Smith.

Within days, Saunders deployed to Black Mountain to assist with the logistics of the recovery efforts. While listening to one of many coordination briefings, Saunders learned that the storm rendered two nearby prisons uninhabitable. Combined, 400 incarcerated women were living without power or water, creating unsafe and dangerous conditions for them and the staff charged with their protection. Where to move them and how to transport them safely despite the infrastructure problems were huge challenges. If DAC officials could not relocate the offenders quickly, they would need law enforcement officers to provide additional security at the two facilities, depleting the number available for critical search and rescue missions.

Upon hearing of this problem, Saunders immediately recalled meeting Chief Smith during the manhunt. He called Chief Smith on Sunday, and they discussed and established evacuation plans. Monday morning, buses arrived at the two facilities. By evening, authorities safely re-located all offenders. Emergency management officials no longer needed to worry about the safety of the women or a shortage of people available for search and rescue efforts.

Next, Saunders and Smith worked together to get permission to allow the town to use the now empty prisons as receiving locations for incoming bulk commodities such as fuel and water. These items required either secure storage or law enforcement personnel to protect them. Through the synergy of their relationship, Saunders and Smith found a solution that did not require scaling back other critical work.

As we move into a new year, I find myself marveling at both the power of nature and that of human connection. We must maintain a collective commitment to helping our neighbors in western North Carolina. I resolve to nurture my existing partnerships and devote energy to building more of them.  I encourage you to do the same.

Best wishes for a safe and healthy 2025!

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Fun fact: Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and November 28 is the latest day upon which the holiday can fall. By the time the weekend is over, it will be December. Therefore, now is the perfect time to share one of my favorite holiday traditions – Shop with the Sheriff – which is December 6 this year.

This annual event is a major undertaking at our office. It requires energy, dedication, and enthusiasm to pull off. We start by partnering with social workers at Orange County elementary schools. They identify approximately 25 children whose family’s circumstances make holiday celebrations particularly challenging. Most commonly, those factors are financial, but the selection process is not one-dimensional. The social workers also consider students for whom community support and a joyous morning might provide respite from other negative factors influencing their childhoods.

Chief Deputy Tina Sykes puts her heart and soul into making Shop with the Sheriff a success. She will tell you that it is, by far, the most rewarding day of the year. I asked her why she loves it so much, and she said, “It’s the look on their faces when we pick them up. It is pure joy. Just for a little bit, it is all about them, and they can be distracted from whatever it is that makes their lives difficult.”

Bus driver Kay McPherson sets the tone. As the students board the bus at each school, she tells them to pretend she is driving Santa’s sleigh. She points to the patrol cars and motorcycles waiting in front of the bus and compares them to reindeer clearing the path. The kids love watching the escort vehicles as they stop traffic to let the bus proceed unimpeded to the next stop, and eventually to Wal-Mart, which we refer to as the North Pole.

Once they arrive, I climb on the bus to greet the kids and pump them up even more. I want them to know how excited we are to spend the next few hours with them. As each student steps off the bus, a detention officer, deputy, staff member, or volunteer greets them, armed with a list of that child’s clothing sizes and general interests. During the ensuing shopping experience, students can purchase whatever they want up to the spending limit. Some race around and select their items within 10 minutes. Others are more discerning. They proceed slowly, carefully considering costs and making deliberate choices.

It never fails that at least one child will purchase presents for parents or siblings instead of buying gifts for him or herself. One year, a group of kids who recently arrived in North Carolina from a warmer climate only wanted to buy clothes and boots suitable for winter. And poignantly, some children ask if they can purchase groceries. As you might imagine, requests like the ones I am describing really yank our heartstrings.

We shop in advance and purchase an outfit, jacket, gloves, and a hat for each participant. Additionally, generous businesses donate restaurant gift cards and practical items like toothbrushes and toothpaste. Most of the credit for sourcing these extra surprises goes to First Lieutenant Daniel Roberson who leads our Community Services Division. He builds relationships throughout the year and helps people understand how necessary widespread support is to the success of this initiative.

The management team at Wal-Mart pulls out all the stops. The staff clearly enjoys the bedlam, extra cashiers work dedicated checkout lines for us, and we have permission to take over the employee breakroom for a pizza-party. While we celebrate with the kids, volunteers pack the gifts into Santa’s giant red gift bags for transportation back to the schools where parents pick them up.

As we run around the store, other shoppers stop and stare, and no one seems annoyed by the chaos. Every year, some shoppers press cash into our hands or ask how they can donate. Fortunately, that process is easy. The Sheriff’s Office Citizens’ Organization, a 501(c)(3) organization, accepts tax-deductible contributions throughout the year to sponsor such initiatives. They also host fundraisers like the spring Chicken Pickin’ and the Hog Day roasted corn sale. We are grateful for their support.

We always get back more than we give as the children reward us with smiles, hugs, and silliness. If you need an hour or so of holiday cheer, come witness the fun at the Hampton Pointe Wal-Mart on December 6! If you can’t make it, get in the spirit by viewing photographs on our app and Facebook page.

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Recently, we launched a new custom smartphone application to enhance the connection between our office and Orange County residents and visitors. Our goal is to make it easier for users to learn about our work, request various services, and communicate with our staff.

TheSheriffApp.com, a brand of OCV, LLC., specializes in mobile app development for sheriffs’ offices and public safety organizations across the country. They worked with our communications staff to develop an app that provides quick access to items of public interest and is simple to use. In just a few clicks, users can find answers to frequently asked questions, learn about fingerprinting, express interest in employment, apply for many of the services we offer, submit a tip, commend or complain about an employee, learn about detention center policies, access our social media posts, and read our press releases.

According to OCV Partner and CRO Kevin Cummings, “Over 80 percent of people in the United States own and use smartphones as their primary means of communication. Mobile apps offer agencies a better way to alert, inform, and prepare the public. Apps allow public safety agencies the ability to reach and serve their citizens where they are: their smartphones.”

A notification bar sits at the top of the home page. This tool helps us push important information straight to subscribers’ mobile devices. In addition to automatic alerts from the National Weather Service, users receive our press releases, crime news, and traffic alerts. We believe community members will benefit from receiving important news in a timely manner directly on their phones, and when relevant, we will pair the written content with photos of, for example, road hazards and traffic conditions. The app also contains convenient, direct links to our social media pages.

The first two feature buttons in the app, the FAQ section and the Submit a Tip option, sit right under the notification bar. This placement is deliberate. We want users to find answers to common inquiries and efficiently report information about crime, traffic, illegal activity, or share concerns about the safety of our students and schools.

Many of the feature buttons on our old app merely directed users to the relevant section of our web page. Unfortunately, that page, currently undergoing revision, became rather text heavy over the years. Often a person would end up viewing a PDF, which can be cumbersome to navigate on a small screen. We wanted user-friendly content on our new app; most of it is native to the program and does not require routing people to the web to find what they need. We hope navigating the app is intuitive, with information organized into clear, concise, and understandable chunks. We also want people to locate information where they expect it might be, not only where we think it fits best. For example, although the app has a designated fingerprinting section on the home screen, we also included information about that service in the FAQ section. Likewise, our detention center is still a relatively new facility. Information about its location is included within the Detention feature button, the Sheriff’s Welcome section, and in the FAQ area.

We are particularly pleased with the Property Catalog, as we know most people struggle to stay organized and keep up with purchase dates, serial numbers, and the value of their possessions. But when people call us about lost or stolen property, we need that information to increase the likelihood of recovery. With the click of a button and a few keystrokes, app users can input the name and relevant details about their valuables into a private catalog and add photos to the file. In the event of a stolen vehicle, the user can share the VIN and license plate numbers, an image, and any other relevant info with the responding deputy without delay instead of searching for the records at home or calling the Department of Motor Vehicles. This tool is also great for storing serial numbers of televisions, chain saws, computers, etc.

The free app is now available for download from the App Store and Google Play by searching for “Orange County Sheriff, NC” or by clicking here. Be sure you include NC in your search; many other states also have Orange Counties. Or better yet, point your phone’s camera at the QR code below for a direct download.

Please explore the app and help us improve it by providing feedback. Contact Alicia Stemper, our communications manager, with your suggestions at (919) 245-2963 or email her at astemper@orangecountync.gov.

Earlier this month, we faced a flurry of online messages raising concern about school safety. Most were vague or made in other counties and states but later viewed by someone locally. In one case, we learned of a post referencing “OCMS.” We do not have a school in our district known by those initials, but we had to consider whether the post intended to reference Orange Middle School (OMS). Later, we learned the post referred to Otter Creek Middle School in Terra Haute, Indiana.

Many school districts are wrestling with similar issues. Authorities in Georgia recently charged more than 30 people in connection with threats made against the safety of educational property. Law enforcement officers in several other states also reported arrests.

We know that parents appreciate transparency and the opportunity to make informed choices. In that spirit, we notify the community when we learn of rumors. However, we are also aware that even talking about vague, unsubstantiated concerns raises anxiety and increases absenteeism. Neither of these is good for anyone.

We take disturbing social media posts and emails seriously. No leader charged with community safety can afford to do otherwise.  Even when we are unable to substantiate a threat, we increase our law enforcement presence at schools as a precaution, and we work with school system staff to inform the community.

Sharing information when concerns are vague, non-specific, and unsubstantiated may have the unintended effect of creating white noise. I am reminded of the Aesop fable known as “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” and I ask myself if these repeated warnings will eventually dilute concern to the point where people ignore critical threats. However, as we move forward, we will continue to inform people of concerns or rumors. We will also notify the community about credible and verified threats to the safety of the school community. We hope people recognize that there is a difference, and we will do our best to make it crystal clear by the words we choose.

The school population needs to be safe from violence, and free from the interruption, fear, and distraction that whispers and inuendo cause. Arrests are increasing across the country for communicating a threat of mass violence on educational property - a clear signal that communities have no tolerance for those who threaten the safety of students and staff in our schools. Make no mistake. I am committed to identifying and prosecuting those who threaten or cause harm in our schools – even if they are juveniles. Parents also may face charges for contributing to the delinquency or neglect of a minor if they provide mobile devices to their children and fail to monitor their activities.

Please talk to your kids. Make sure they understand that if they see a message that concerns them, the proper response is to talk about it with you or a trusted adult at school. Tell them they are not to copy, forward, or share the message with other students. Spreading rumors or threats by electronic means is the modern-day equivalent of yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theatre. It leads to panic and harm while complicating our efforts to verify and appropriately respond to real and dangerous threats.

Likewise, please model the same behavior for your students. Before posting about a rumor, or adding your opinion to someone else’s thread, take a deep breath and ask yourself if what you are about to type is helpful. Are you sure it’s true? If it is just your feeling, do you need to post it for strangers to read? Maybe your time would be better spent calling the school or law enforcement to share your concern or reaching out to a friend for support. I am not minimizing anyone’s fears. I have grandchildren, and I see the worry in my daughter’s eyes. But we all need to manage the fear and work collectively to address this problem, rather than spinning a situation into an emotional frenzy that just feeds on itself and grows ever more chaotic.

There are dozens of law enforcement officers and school personnel who are trained in threat assessment and response.  We have resources to investigate threats and to power up increased safety protocols. If you or your children haveinformation about a potential threat, contact your school, call law enforcement, or use the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System (www.saysomething.net) and let us get to work.

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.

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When someone is in grave danger, law enforcement officials in North Carolina can request an emergency alert from the North Carolina Center for Missing Persons (NCCMP), a division of the Department of Public Safety. Officials designed these alerts to share information rapidly about a person who is missing, kidnapped, or poses a danger to law enforcement officers or the community at large.

Because these alerts are a plea for community assistance, the NCCMP requires detailed and relevant information. A vague alert is simply not useful.  Once the NCCMP approves the request, broadcasters interrupt regular programming to announce it, transportation officials post the information on emergency highway signs, the Wireless Emergency Alerts program distributes the news to cell phones, and the NC Education Lottery places the message on gaming terminals.

Each alert has a unique purpose. AMBER Alerts, an acronym for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, is the most widely known. It is named in memory of Amber Hagerman, a Texas nine-year-old, who was kidnapped and murdered. After her death, broadcasters in her state partnered with local police departments to design an early warning system to aid in the search for abducted children. Versions of the resulting program soon spread to other states.

AMBER Alerts are used for children under 18 years of age who are believed to have been abducted by someone other than a parent. If an alert is issued for a child taken by a parent, authorities must believe the child is in danger of injury or death, not merely a pawn in a custody dispute. Likewise, children who run away from home or are missing voluntarily do not qualify for an alert.

The Ashanti Alert Act is named after Ashanti Billie, a woman killed by her abductor in 2017. Law enforcement officers request Ashanti alerts when adults are missing under circumstances that indicate their physical safety is in peril, perhaps from domestic violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking.

President Barack Obama signed Blue Alerts into law in 2015 after the murder of two New York City detectives while sitting in a patrol car. Prior to the attack, their killer posted threats on social media to the law enforcement community. Blue Alerts provide advance warning of credible threats, aid in the apprehension of violent criminals who killed or seriously injured an officer, and hinder an offender’s ability to flee the state.

North Carolina authorities no longer issue Silver Alerts. This reality surprises many people. In July 2023, the North Carolina Legislature replaced Silver Alerts with the Missing Endangered designation, but this change received little publicity.

Used in cases where a missing person had dementia or another cognitive impairment, Silver Alerts were effective. In fact, approximately 70% of people with dementia go missing at least once, and Silver Alerts have proven critical in many of the over 100,000 search and rescue missions conducted nationwide each year.

However, Silver Alerts applied only to people 50 years of age and older, and that limitation proved problematic. In recent years, my deputies also have searched for multiple people younger than 50 who went missing and were vulnerable to exploitation, physical vulnerability, or death. In these cases, we had no mechanism to notify the broader community quickly.  When officials removed the age restriction and renamed Silver Alerts to Missing Endangered Alerts, they vastly increased the number of adults who might benefit from this tool.

If you receive an alert, we need your help! AMBER, Ashanti, and Blue alerts all operate on the premise that someone may avoid a handful of law enforcement officers yet find it quite difficult to hide from thousands of people. Pay close attention to details in an alert. Watch for the missing person and keep an eye out for the suspect and vehicle described. Report any sightings immediately to 911. Do not engage directly with an abductor, but if feasible and safe, follow from a distance while reporting the person’s location and direction of travel.

With a Missing and Endangered alert, the dynamics are different. These situations generally involve a lost, scared, or vulnerable person. Though urgent, they rarely involve a perpetrator. Remain calm if you think you see the missing person. Call 911 and describe the situation and location. If you have a safe opportunity to interact, call the person by name, introduce yourself, and try to keep the person engaged until help arrives.

Above all, please do not ignore emergency alerts. We do not request them lightly, and the NCCMP considers them carefully. We appreciate your assistance.

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“The days are long, but the years are short,” generally refers to the experience of parenting. However, as I write this, I am shocked to be looking down the barrel of July and seeing prime vacation season. Wasn’t it just New Year’s Eve a week or so ago?

As people prepare to travel, they juggle many tasks, including completing urgent workplace projects, planning an itinerary, coordinating pet care, and packing luggage. Given the number of distractions, it is not surprising that vacationers often forget to attend to the security of their homes and the belongings they plan to leave behind.

I believe travelers should wait until they return home before they share pictures and information on social media platforms about their vacation. “Having a great time at the Grand Canyon,” broadcasts a family is out of town, whereas “We had fun in Arizona last week. Enjoy our Grand Canyon photos,” conveys the same information without widely announcing the absence.

I frequently advise people that nosy neighbors are a terrific alarm system! Sharing travel plans and exchanging contact information with them is a good practice. Ask nearby residents to keep an eye on your place, and if you are comfortable, give a trusted neighbor a key to your home or the keypad code to your garage. In the event of a screaming smoke alarm, gas leak, or broken pipe, that person can grant access to emergency responders or repair workers. Neighbors can also check your mail, take packages off your porch, grab newspapers from your driveway, and return garbage bins to the side of your house after trash pick-up. When no one attends to these chores for several days, people with malicious intent may recognize an opportunity to break into an unoccupied residence.

Many properties have security cameras, such as Ring, Blink, Nest, or Arlo Pro. These systems require routine maintenance. Because they only work with steady access to power or working batteries, check that all is in order before you leave town. Likewise, if your system uses local storage, such as a flash drive, delete old clips to ensure you have enough available space to accommodate the length of your trip. If your camera is motion activated and delivers a live feed but does not store video, make sure you know how to take screenshots of any unusual activity.

Relatively speaking, home security systems are new technology. Have you thought through what you will do if you see suspicious activity at your residence in real time while you are away? How do you notify your law enforcement agency back home? Fortunately, all North Carolina call centers now use an integrated system, allowing dispatchers to efficiently route a 911 call placed anywhere in the state to the telecommunication center here in Orange County. However, if you are out of state, calling 911 will not help you reach anyone in this area. Therefore, I strongly encourage you to store the direct number for our dispatch center in your contacts. It is (919) 732-5063.

Our office provides two services of interest to vacationers. Upon request, and if not too busy with emergency calls, deputies will conduct either a “close patrol” or a “house check” of an Orange County property. During a close patrol, deputies will be in the vicinity of the identified address more often usual, perhaps providing periods of a stationary presence in the general area. When conducting house checks, deputies perform more detailed inspections by exiting their patrol vehicles and walking around the residence, physically ensuring doors and windows are secure. With either service, if the deputies discover any problems, they will call you or your emergency contact. If you would like to sign up for a close patrol or house check, please fill out the form available on our website, or call us at (919)245-2900. If possible, please arrange for this service three or more days before you leave for vacation.

We will do our best to keep your residence and belongings safe while you are away. We encourage you to also think about your personal safety while on vacation. Three important tips: make sure children know what to do if they get lost or separated from you, designate a specific person to watch kids around bodies of water, and diligently minimize distractions before driving on unfamiliar roads.

Please be careful, have fun, and bring home happy memories!

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In early May, county manager Bonnie Hammersley released her recommended budget for the upcoming fiscal year, only a few weeks after she announced her plans to retire effective July 31, 2024. Chief among Bonnie’s many accomplishments during her time here in Orange County is her approach to the budget. She introduced a process for wrestling with this enormous task that I believe will remain as her most profound legacy. Personally, I am glad she will lead us through the budget adoption process one more time before she concludes her service.

Bonnie started working for Orange County in the summer of 2014. At that time, I was actively running my first campaign. I had been involved in the budgetary process while serving under the former sheriff, and I think it is fair to say the county’s system at the time was complex and convoluted. I worked to understand different concepts, such as a zero-based budget versus a balanced one, and I worried about the process, which felt exceedingly daunting.  Once elected in November, I met with the county manager. The very first thing Bonnie told me was not to worry about the budget. She promised the process would be simplified and it would work better. She was correct, and I’ve never been more grateful.

State law requires county managers to present a balanced budget each year. I frequently spend time with North Carolina’s other 99 sheriffs, and when I hear their nightmarish budget stories, I am so appreciative of Bonnie’s leadership and the guidance of the wonderful team in finance.

But for the difference in scale, county and household budgets resemble each other. When designing a budget, it is important to first determine income sources and fixed expenses.  Next, emergencies and unexpected costs should be anticipated before ultimately charting a spending plan for the year that prioritizes needs while still allowing room to accommodate values-based decisions regarding any wants.  Guiding principles for drafting a budget, whether public or personal, should include reasonableness and achievability.

Bonnie and deputy county manager Travis Myren brought a new process to Orange County. Instead of each department submitting their own budget requests for consideration, management organized us into functional leadership teams, such as Education, General Government, and Human Services, where departments with thematically similar missions collaborated. Along with Emergency Services, the Criminal Justice Resource Department, and the courts, the Sheriff’s Office became part of the Public Safey group.

Each department examined its desired programs, equipment requirements, interesting projects, and training needs, and selected its top five priorities for the year. These priorities formed the Public Safety master list.  As a team, we then ranked items on the list, selecting the top three from each group of five. If a particular item on my list was also valued by other departments in the group, we ranked it highly.

Essentially, we were collaborating to vet each department’s budget request and forward it with the support and approval of the Public Safety team. In this manner, we focused on the needs, narrowed the list of wants, and presented a mutually agreed upon priority list to the manager.

Bonnie and Travis would then search for cost-effective ways to meet the identified needs. At every step, the process sought to get the best bang for the taxpayers’ buck and be a good steward of the funds entrusted to Orange County government.  Meanwhile, the manager repeated this process with other functional leadership teams, eventually combining requests into a balanced budget which she recommended for adoption to the Board of County Commissioners. The Commissioners would then meet with each department to fine tune the budget, working from a set of priorities and numbers that reflected consideration, discussion, ranking, and trimming by knowledgeable people. This process, like many other things, morphed somewhat during the pandemic, but the tenets of it still guide us today.

The thought that the Sheriff or any department head can financially run amuck is far-fetched. It is entertaining at best and dangerous at worst. With Bonnie’s guidance, we participated in a process that looked outward, not inward, and started with dedication to serving residents and exercising fiscal responsibility.

It is no secret that I want to lead a premier agency, progressive in the way we think, work, and train. I am grateful to Bonnie and her team for helping me accomplish these goals within a budget that has been vetted by my peers, supported by the manager, and approved by the commissioners.

I wish Bonnie Hammersley well in her retirement and future adventures, and I thank her for making the budget process transparent, logical, and efficient.

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