The Lowdown Archive

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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The Compass Center is a non-profit agency dedicated to assisting people experiencing domestic violence. It provides a variety of services, all geared toward helping people navigate toward safety, stability, and empowerment, whether they are currently experiencing violence or recovering in the aftermath of such abuse. The Center directly helps people in crisis find their way out of unsafe, harmful relationships. It supports victims as they become survivors, and it provides educational programs about healthy relationship skills.

Unfortunately, the Center is reeling from the loss of many traditional funding sources, and it is wrestling to meet the ever-growing demand for services despite a shrinking budget. In the last year, they eliminated five staff roles. They still provide crisis services, but they also had to reduce the number of support and educational programs they offer.

Why do I care? Why should you?

Also called intimate partner violence, domestic violence is a crime that harms our neighbors, their children, and our entire community. I am confident most adults in Orange County know at least one person currently living in an abusive relationship. Though the problem is pervasive, it is shockingly hard to see at times. It might help if we could stop thinking about domestic violence in terms of split lips or black eyes. Violence is much more than physical force resulting in injury. It also encompasses the abuse of power and the threat of harm to more than just the body. Violence includes manipulation, deprivation, sexual coercion, the weaponization of children, and deliberate financial oppression. Sadly, this list is by no means complete. The forms abuse can take are limited only by the imagination of the perpetrator.

A dangerous relationship grows slowly. No one puts, “Looking for someone I can belittle, entrap, isolate, and beat,” in their dating app profile. Usually, by the time the victim realizes how unsafe he or she is, the escape routes available are narrow and treacherous. Some people are so stuck, they don’t ask for help leaving a partner. Instead, they seek advice on how to minimize injury during a beating, or what physical symptoms indicate the need for emergency medical care. Such heartbreaking questions reflect a profound hopelessness.

People tend to think in simple terms, such as, “Victims should just leave.” The Compass Center understands the issues are far more complex. Generally speaking, a victim tries to leave an abusive relationship six times before achieving permanent independence. This statistic is frustrating to many people, but it speaks to the universal difficulty of the toxic relationship dynamic. Additionally, a person who needs to leave a relationship rarely has the independent financial means to do so.

The Compass Center maintains three residential properties for those in crisis. Due to demand, these safe homes are almost always full. Staff receive five to ten additional requests for shelter per week that they are unable to fulfill. With 90% of survivors impacted by financial abuse, it is easy to see why most victims do not have the ability to pay for their own housing. Many choose to return to an unsafe relationship rather than face the dangers of living without secure shelter.

Please join us at a reception on May 5, 2024, at the Sheraton in Chapel Hill. “Breaking the Silence-Building Connections,” an interactive event designed to educate and amplify, will speak of the importance of helping survivors and to our collective need for a safer, more supportive community. Please come meet staff and board members; hear about their passion for this important work. Learn more about the struggles victims face in their relationships and on the path to healing and independence. Explore the Compass Center’s crucial programs and services, including its unique safe homes model for temporary housing.

This event will foster a welcoming environment for building community and breaking the silence surrounding intimate partner violence. Share light snacks and drinks, meet special guests, and enjoy an opportunity to win door prizes provided by community partners. If you can help by making an advance $20.00 donation, please do, but the Compass Center welcomes everyone interested in the event regardless of financial ability. https://tinyurl.com/CC-BreakingtheSilence

The Sheriff’s Office Crisis Unit collaborates daily with staff and volunteers from the Compass Center. We see how hard they work and how much they care. I will be at the event, and I ask you to join me. Some of the stories you hear will surprise you; others will make you angry. All will convince you that this lifesaving, life-changing work is worthy of your support.

In this monthly article, I usually do a deep dive, focusing on one important law enforcement topic. This month, I’m doing a Lowdown Lightning Round! Let’s see how many programs, offerings, and small details I can share about our office within my 750-word allotment.

Did you know we can place a premise alert on your residence? If you have something you want us to know BEFORE an emergency occurs, we enter that information into a database. Any deputy responding to your home will know immediately what your special concerns are. For example: Grandma’s bedroom is in the back left corner of the house. She uses a wheelchair. If there is an emergency, help her first. Or maybe it is better for someone in your home if we respond to your residence without flashing lights and sirens. Let us know in advance, and we will do our best to accommodate your request.

We maintain a safe zone at our office where people can conduct buy/sell/trade transactions they arrange on social media. It should go without saying that if someone won’t agree to meet you at our office, you don’t want that person at your house!

This service might surprise you: my IT team started a livestock tracking database. It contains the names of owners of large animals, such as horses, goats, emus, mules, cows, and pigs, and the nearest cross streets to where they live. If a deputy finds a loose animal, which happens more than you may think, he or she can consult the list to help identify the owner. It also minimizes the number of times we wake up the wrong person in the middle of the night!

Upon your request, patrol deputies will conduct close patrols or house checks. In the former, deputies drive by your home more often than they would on routine patrol, and perhaps provide periods of stationary presence nearby. People request close patrols when they are out of town, having a dispute with a neighbor, or finding themselves worried about safety for any number of reasons. A house check is a similar service, but the deputy performs a closer inspection, walking around your residence, physically ensuring doors and windows are secure. A deputy who discovers any problems will call you or your emergency contact. People generally request this service when they plan to be out of town for an extended period.

We have a drop box in our lobby for expired, no longer needed, or no longer wanted medication. Such boxes help keep drugs out of the wrong hands and the water supply. People particularly value this disposal option after the death of a loved one from a long illness like cancer. The volume of medications left behind can be overwhelming. I am proud to offer this easy, no-questions-asked option for safe disposal.

Do you want to volunteer somewhere? Consider joining our Sheriff’s Office Citizens’ Organization (SOCO). This nonprofit helps with special fundraising initiatives throughout the year. Members enjoy selling corn at Hog Day, assisting with our Chicken Pickin’ event in April, supporting our Lifetrack program, and making holiday dreams come true in December at our Shop with the Sheriff event. SOCO boasts some of the kindest people in the county, and it is a low-stress commitment that makes a big difference to others.

Our Community Service team will conduct a home security assessment upon your request. They look for ways to improve your safety and deter opportunistic criminals by examining your landscaping, lighting, and locking hardware. Deputies may make suggestions regarding where to store valuables in your home or identify places on your property that allow easy access to your residence out of sight of neighbors or those passing by. Users of this service find some of the suggestions surprisingly effective and low-cost.

We also give facility tours. Maybe you have a school class or civic group interested in an up-close look at our office. Not just for third-graders, people of all ages enjoy seeing our patrol room, sitting in a marked vehicle, and learning about our responsibilities and equipment. My office is your office, and I welcome your interest.

Finally, let us know if we can come to you. We provide safety presentations, drone and K9 demonstrations, and crime prevention consultations to social, school, church, and neighborhood civic groups.

I managed to cover nine topics in this Lowdown Lightning Round and − BONUS POINTS − I came in at exactly 750 words! I hope you learned something new, and thanks for reading.

Deputies and detention officers have difficult, dangerous jobs. When I became Sheriff, I initially prioritized upgrading equipment and training to help keep them safe, efficient, and effective. However, I wanted to do more than improve how we do things; I wanted to expand the things we can do. Therefore, in my second term, I instituted our drone program, and this investment in emerging technology continues to pay dividends beyond my expectations.

A drone is an aircraft with no pilot on board. The drones we use look like a cross between a helicopter and a bug, and they function like flying remote control cars. They take photos and videos, can see in the dark, and have heat-seeking capabilities known as FLIR. This thermal imaging technique is pronounced “fleer” and it stands for forward-looking infrared. The night vision and FLIR capabilities are so effective that it is sometimes more helpful to fly after dark!

Although a consumer can purchase a drone weighing under 0.55 pounds and fly it the same day for strictly recreational purposes, that person is classified as a hobbyist. We, on the other hand, are not playing around, and we are not flying that kind of drone! Anyone flying for commercial purposes must obtain certification under the Federal Aviation Administration’s rule governing unmanned aircraft systems, also called Part 107. We have four certified pilots, and they will tell you the training is “eye-opening.” It covers drone operations, weather, aerodynamics, flight regulations, air space classification, and more. They will also tell you the certification exam is one of the most difficult tests they ever took. Once licensed, a drone-pilot must recertify every two years.

Some air space is restricted, such as the area over stadiums, prisons, airports, and wildlife preserves, but we can generally fly drones over any public area where we are otherwise allowed to be. That said, we cannot violate people’s right to privacy. For example, we cannot hover directly over someone’s residence without a search warrant unless emergency circumstances exist that justify such action and we cannot release any photos without a subpoena.

We deploy our drones most often for search and rescue situations, or to assist in tracking and apprehending subjects that flee from a crime scene or traffic crash. With a camera onboard each aircraft, our deputies receive a bird’s eye view of a much larger area than they could see unassisted. This same wide-area capability is useful for monitoring large crowds, such as protests, parades, or festivals. It allows us to scan congested areas for emerging disruptions or incoming threats to the assembly. When

coupled with GPS capabilities, drones are an invaluable complement to a ground-based grid search for a missing child or wandering dementia patient.

Drones help us see more, and they help us see differently. The top-down perspective provides a comprehensive vantage point from which to make tactical decisions. More information leads to better choices. The photos and videos also help us review and improve our performance in the aftermath of a critical incident.

Perhaps most importantly, drones help keep our human assets safer. Imagine, for example, a person calls in a threat, perhaps reporting that he or she placed a bomb in a trash can at a ballfield. One of our pilots can fly over and peer into multiple trash receptacles in a fraction of the time it would take to do this task on foot, all while staying farther away from the risk of injury or death. To state the obvious, we can buy another drone, but people are irreplaceable.

Our profession is continually realizing new applications for the technological capabilities of unmanned aircraft. Perhaps you recall the recent ground-shaking “BOOM” people heard in downtown Hillsborough and surrounding areas. It took almost 24 hours for seismologists to conclude a 2.2 magnitude earthquake caused the sound. In the interim, people were very concerned and uneasy. The drone pilot on duty spent several hours searching for dust or smoke clouds that might help locate the source of the sound. He also flew to a location where people sometimes shoot at Tannerite, an explosive target used for firearm practice. Although he found no answers, it was nonetheless reassuring when he ruled out several imminent safety concerns.

Currently, our pilots must travel to the area of concern and maintain visual contact with the drone, but that will likely change in the not-too-distant future as the capability and reliability of this technology continue to increase. I expect drones will soon deliver an AED or Narcan when ground response time is outside the life-saving window. The possibilities are endless, and we are excited to explore them!

Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay. It is simultaneously a uniting and a dividing force. For many, it provides entertainment, engagement with other people, information about businesses, and an important source of community news. For others, it can increase a sense of isolation, become a source of misinformation, or provide a forum to bully or troll others. In less than 30 years, social media has emerged, adapted, grown, and transformed communication here in Orange County and around the globe.

As I recently reflected on the prior year, I scrolled back through more than 330 posts on the Orange County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page, our primary social media platform. As I did so, I marveled at the historical record such posts now provide. They bear witness to the crime and law enforcement activity in Orange County. They remind us of the useful education we can provide to residents about crime and injury prevention, road closures, threatening weather, and community events. Facebook also serves as an ideal forum to showcase the good work of our employees, celebrate their accomplishments, and mark important transitions such as swearing-in ceremonies, promotions, and retirements.

During my stroll down memory lane, I came across a June 13, 2023 post about the retirements of seven members of this office. As I often say, “The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected,” and that post is proof. At the time, we were celebrating great careers and wishing beloved colleagues well. But when I saw that post again, I realized with new clarity how those retirements changed this agency and continue to affect us. We promoted several people to fill the vacated leadership spots; those individuals continue to grow into their positions while others adjust to different responsibilities. We have new personnel in every division with more opportunities on the horizon - five more people plan to retire this year.

Before I move on, let me say that contrary to what you may have heard, most law enforcement officers leave the profession at retirement, not before. Thirty years ago, a federal grant program known as “Cops Fast” hired, trained, and put thousands of new law enforcement officers on the street within a remarkably short period of time. The fact that those officers are retiring three decades later is not a surprise, and it does not represent an unusual rate of attrition.

I find myself in much the same position as a coach who is rebuilding a team after a large graduating class or the loss of personnel because of injury or movement through the transfer portal. As experienced players assume leadership roles and others move to new positions, a coach assesses incoming recruits, builds upon fundamental skills, and shapes them to the needs of the team and the realities of the schedule. Added twist for me: my team works out of two facilities - our main office and the Detention Center across town!

A mid-2023 analysis of detention center staffing conducted by the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association revealed that some detention centers in the state face large staffing shortages – as much as 60%. We are doing much better than that, but we still have quite a few open positions. We are always looking to hire the right people to help us maintain our reputation for providing highly trained supervision by compassionate detention officers within an appropriately equipped facility. It is critically important work, and severe staff shortages are known to lead to corruption, inmate behavior problems, and increased rates of assault or self-harm. I frequently tell family members of the people in our custody that their loved one is in one of the safest places on the planet, and I make sure my staff knows how critical their efforts are toward maintaining that distinction.

Some detention officers build a rewarding, challenging career in our jail, progressing through the ranks into leadership roles. Others use the position as a steppingstone to additional training and a career as a deputy. Either path provides ample opportunity for advancement, competitive pay and benefits, excellent training and support, and a desirable retirement package.

If you are hungry to feel challenged by your career, proud of your coworkers, excited about the opportunities ahead of you, and confident that your efforts are making a difference in our community, we would like to talk to you. Please call Sergeant Glenn Powell, our recruiting coordinator, at (919) 245-2908. I’m actively rebuilding my team and looking to add talent to the depth chart.

A well-known adage holds that only two things are certain - death and taxes. For the sake of this month’s Lowdown, I am adding a third item to that list – vehicle crashes. Almost everyone I know has been in at least one accident as the at-fault driver, a passenger, or the motorist who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Wrecks can be deadly or painful, they are usually expensive, and they are always inconvenient and stressful. In the immediate aftermath, people generally struggle to remember exactly what they should do.

Let’s start at the very beginning. People have a responsibility to themselves and to other motorists to maintain their vehicles properly. Bald tires, inoperable turn signals, worn out brakes, broken taillights, and crumbling wiper blades can all lead to a person causing or being unable to avoid a crash. North Carolina requires a yearly safety inspection to help identify these issues, and a person may not renew a license plate without proof that this assessment is complete, and any problems addressed. Law enforcement officers stop driver for expired tags because an out-of-date sticker signals that a qualified technician has not inspected the vehicle or that the vehicle failed the inspection, and the operator has not corrected the identified problems. Frankly, many people would not maintain their vehicle unless required to do so.

Prior to getting behind the wheel, it is generally a good idea for drivers to let someone know where they are going and when they plan to arrive. Ideally, motorists carry safety equipment, including a flashlight, first aid kit, and blankets. Many people think they don’t need a jacket because they are taking a quick trip to run a short errand. They feel differently once they’ve waited an hour or more in the cold for a trooper and a tow truck!

I mention troopers because in the unincorporated parts of the county, the Highway Patrol investigates traffic crashes on state-maintained roads and in public vehicular areas. My deputies will respond to assist, render aid, or direct traffic, but troopers conduct the crash investigation and write any required reports. The wait times are often long, especially during rain or snow events when multiple collisions typically occur. Although such delays are frustrating, leaving the scene of a crash is against the law. Drivers must report any crash in which someone is injured or killed or property damage of at least $1,000.00 occurs.

If no one seems injured and the property damage appears minimal, one of the parties may suggest handling the matter privately, but I advise against taking this course of

action! Vehicles may have hidden damage, people may not realize they are injured, and the other party may provide false information or fail to live up to any roadside agreements.

People involved in a collision should do their best to stay calm and proceed carefully. Each driver should assess him or herself and all passengers for injuries, turn on hazard lights, and check to see if it is safe to exit the vehicle. He or she should also heed warnings from witnesses or bystanders – they may see a hazard from their vantage point that the drivers cannot, such as downed power lines, fluid leaks, or oncoming traffic. Witnesses may realize an involved party is seriously hurt, but because of adrenalin or shock, the injured person may not feel pain yet.

Once out of the car, all parties should check on others involved in the crash, help uninjured people navigate away from the scene, call for help, and try to alert other motorists. Crash scenes are dangerous places - many wrecks are followed by additional collisions, either in a chain reaction, or because other drivers fail to successfully navigate around the scene of the crash.

North Carolina has a fender bender law which requires motorists to move vehicles to the side of the road and out of the path of nearby traffic if it is safe to do so and no one is seriously injured. Although drivers should comply with this law as soon as they can, taking a cell phone photo of the crash before moving the vehicles may be advisable.

I encourage everyone to remind themselves frequently that driving is a privilege and a tremendous responsibility. Approach the task with respect and caution and do not operate a vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Follow applicable laws, avoid distractions, use common sense, and be courteous. I wish everyone safe travels and a healthy 2024.

Law enforcement, widely considered an honorable, respected career, is one of the few professions accessible to those with or without college degrees. Bonus: it boasts interesting work, supportive colleagues, a path for career advancement, ample overtime opportunities, and a stable retirement plan.

The pre-employment process requires commitment and organization. A candidate must be a United States citizen, at least 21 years old, who possesses a high school diploma (or GED) and a driver’s license. Additionally, the person must be in good physical and psychological health and pass a background check and a polygraph.

Once hired, new employees usually work in the detention center providing for the safety and well-being of those in our custody while learning more about our office. They then attend the five-week Detention Officer Certification Course, sanctioned by the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Education and Training Standards Commission.

After employees earn certification, they return to the Detention Center and resume their important responsibilities there. Eventually, those who perform well and are interested can request to attend Basic Law Enforcement Training - a physically and academically rigorous 20-week program containing 36 separate blocks of instruction. Cadets must then pass the state exam to become certified law enforcement officers.

But wait - there’s more! New deputies enter a comprehensive, four-phase field training program, designed to acclimate them to the culture of our agency, translate classroom knowledge into real-world competence, and equip them with the experiences and relationships necessary for success. During the initial orientation phase, the new deputy works at the front desk, explores divisions within the office, and visits the telecommunications center.

In Phase 2, the trainee enters the world of patrol, beginning with a 12-hour ride-along shift with his or her Field Training Officer (FTO). The new deputy observes the work, and orients to the different in-car systems, such as the radio, emergency equipment, cameras, and computer programs. As early as the second day, the trainee starts driving, talking on the radio, and responding to calls under the FTO’s supervision. Phase 2 lasts a minimum of four weeks, which is 168 work hours, and focuses on the basics, such as interacting with people, writing reports, responding to alarms, and learning policy, procedure, county ordinances, and general statutes. During Phase 2, the novice also acclimates to the physical and emotional stresses of the role, which can only be understood through experience.

In Phase 3, a secondary FTO takes over, exposing the newcomer to a different supervisory style. The two-trainee system helps avoid blind spots or favoritism, and it serves as an effective check and

balance. During this phase, as the deputy becomes increasingly independent, the FTO starts stepping back and observing more.

At least once during each phase of the program, the shift supervisor accompanies the trainee to get a feel for this new squad member. Often, we see that the academic stars of BLET struggle with the social aspects of the job and find it difficult to be effective in chaotic situations. Likewise, those with an abundance of personality and charisma sometimes need help mastering the more technical and procedural aspects of their responsibilities. The supervisor adjusts the length of field training based on what he or she discovers about the individual’s style and needs.

Trainees must demonstrate competence with a set of 50 specific skills, including mastering radio protocols, executing search warrants, effecting an arrest, processing evidence, responding to residential alarms, and navigating domestic conflicts. They must also conduct traffic stops (including DWIs); investigate an unattended death; and work a missing person case. For experiences the new officer does not encounter – perhaps a bank robbery – he or she must verbally review procedures, concerns, risks, governing law, and other relevant factors with his or her FTO.

In the final phase of the program, the new deputy returns to his or her original FTO, who now wears plain clothes and allows the trainee to handle calls unassisted. Functioning as a shadow, the FTO only steps in if necessary. It takes experience and good judgement to allow someone to make the mistakes that provide learning opportunities, but not the ones that will cause a safety issue or a negative impact on the office. Successful completion of field training is not a given, although the entire process can be lengthened if a deputy needs a little extra time to master the nuances of the role.

Although training eventually ends, the mentoring relationship between a new deputy and his or her FTO rarely does. A successful career requires far more than an individual’s personal performance. It takes the investment and dedication of experienced co-workers who form an ever-lengthening bridge between the past and the future of the law enforcement profession.

Although September is recognized as Suicide Prevention month, I would like to encourage our community to continue the conversation all year. Mental illness is treatable, and suicide is preventable, but we must keep talking and work to remove lingering stigma. 

As I’ve discussed in this column, deputies respond to many calls that are not about enforcing the law or keeping the peace. The proportion of calls involving a mental health crisis seems to increase each year, and the stresses of the pandemic only exacerbated this trend. Over the years, the mental health system in our state has all but collapsed, and at present, we are the professionals most readily available to step into the service chasm. Generally, mental health clinicians do not see people in the field during a crisis. They are usually hospital or clinic based, charge for their services, and have limited night and weekend availability. On the other hand, we respond to such calls because we have a highly efficient dispatch system, don’t bill for services, and are available 24/7/365.

Even with skills learned in crisis intervention and mental health first-aid training, a deputy’s tools and solutions are geared primarily toward resolving a crisis as quickly as possible and answering the next call. Furthermore, rotating schedules preclude us from offering any meaningful follow-up. Anyone in the throes of a mental health crisis, especially if that person is suicidal, needs a specially trained clinician and more comprehensive services than law enforcement officers can provide. 

I don’t know anyone who believes our state’s mental health system is adequate. We don’t have a regional system, let alone the desperately needed county-level resources. That said, I am very pleased the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services within the NC Department of Health and Human Services awarded Orange County a grant to form a Community Care and Diversion Response team.

The Orange County Criminal Justice Resource Department will administer the program, which includes placing a social worker in my office and one each in the Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough Police Departments. These professionals will work under the supervision of a Mental Health Diversion Coordinator and collaborate with a clinician and a peer support specialist based at Chapel Hill’s Freedom House Recovery Center.

The primary purpose of the Community Care team is to divert individuals with serious mental illness away from the criminal courts and into a system where they can receive treatment, peer support, and case management. But I have no doubt that this program will also be an invaluable tool for those in our community experiencing thoughts of suicide. These individuals deserve more than a ride to the hospital in a marked patrol vehicle and maybe a phone number to a crisis line.

Suicide is often a result of emotional pain and despair, and people considering this permanent solution to such problems often feel isolated and hopeless. It is crucial that people have access to mental health treatment and supportive services; deputies will now be able to make a warm hand-off to a trained clinician who can develop an individualized treatment/service plan with their clients, provide up to 90 days of case management service, and make referrals to a dedicated clinical and peer support specialist.

The Community Care team will also provide training about trauma-informed mental health interventions to law enforcement officers, allowing them to approach those experiencing suicidal thoughts or other mental health crises with greater awareness, improved communication, and increased consistency.

I am also hopeful this program will help deputies and police officers in another way. It is well-known that law enforcement officers have increased exposure to critical incidents - an event that creates a significant risk of substantial harm to the physical or mental health of those involved. Most people experience an estimated two to three critical incidents in a lifetime; law enforcement officers have 18 such exposures ANNUALLY. Responding to a call where a deputy is trying to prevent the suicide of a person, or managing the aftermath of such a death IS a critical incident. I expect the existence of Community Care Team clinicians will mitigate the trauma law enforcement officers feel when responding to such calls because they will have actual resources to offer. Less stressed officers are more effective at their work and better able to cope with psychological harm caused by critical incidents they experience. In other words, the Community Care program will expand the assistance available to those experiencing a mental health crisis and those responding to one.

Thirty-three years ago, crews working on the side of I-40 found the remains of a young woman near the New Hope Church Road exit. I remember that day – I was a patrol deputy working in the southern part of the county. The victim had been dead for about a week, and the investigation revealed her killer probably strangled her and dumped her body alongside the Interstate. 

She was likely between 15 and 25 years old. Investigators wondered if she had been a runaway. Some witnesses reported seeing a person matching her description at a truck stop. Despite pursuing hundreds of leads, investigators were unable to determine her identity or that of her killer. 

Throughout the decades, some of our finest investigators kept plugging away. When you can’t close a case, it gets under your skin. You might set the file aside for a while, but you keep coming back to it, looking to see something you didn’t notice before, or hoping information gathered in ensuing cases has relevance to your cold case. 

Think back to 1990. Most of us probably didn’t have an email account or regular access to a computer. We did not have smart phones or social media accounts. Searches and inquiries we can accomplish now in a matter of seconds at a keyboard previously required an entirely different skill set. 

During the ensuing three decades, technology improved, and investigators continually had new tools at their disposal. They repeatedly checked web-based missing person sites as those became growing repositories of information. They turned to social media. Early in the case, someone made a bust of the victim, applying forensic facial reconstruction techniques to a model of her skull. By 2018, a talented digital forensic artist was able to generate an illustration that resembled a photograph. We pushed out this image and renewed pleas for help on the thirtieth anniversary of the day workers located her body, but nothing came of those efforts. 

Meanwhile, in laboratories all over the world, people continued to push the frontiers of science, particularly in the field of DNA research. Although prosecutors first won a criminal conviction using DNA in 1986, the field of forensic science as we know it today was still in its infancy in 1990 when we began this investigation. Although scientists could perhaps confirm someone’s identity via a DNA match or prove someone’s involvement in a crime through the biological clues they left behind, they could not use DNA to identify an unknown person. 

Through the years, we received substantial assistance and resources from the State Bureau of Investigation and several volunteers with a passionate interest in solving missing persons cases. We assigned Investigator Dylan Hendricks to the case in June 2020. He eventually learned from an SBI agent about a California lab doing phenomenal work extracting DNA from rootless hair, another new frontier. Hendricks sent a degraded hair fragment to Astrea Forensics in May of last year. The company returned a DNA profile last month, and after 33 years, we finally had the breakthrough we needed.

Forensic genealogist Leslie Kaufman worked with the profile to identify family members of the victim using genealogy databases and other forensic tools. She identified some paternal cousins and investigators began conducting interviews. They learned of a female relative named Lisa Coburn Kesler whom no one had heard from in at least three decades. Investigator Hendricks said, “Essentially, there was a Lisa-shaped hole on a branch of the family tree right where the DNA told us Lisa should be, and no one knew where she was.” A maternal relative provided a DNA sample. Once analyzed, we had additional confirmation. Lisa was 20 years old when she died and had spent most of her life in Jackson County, Georgia. 

The results satisfied Clyde Gibbs, a Medical Examiner Specialist in the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. He updated NamUS, a national database used to connect missing persons cases to unidentified remains, reflecting that the DNA method resolved her case. Additionally, the Chief Medical Examiner is now able to amend her death certificate, providing her correct name and adding other demographic information.

I am very happy we solved the decades-old mystery of this young woman’s identity, and I hope it provides solace to her remaining family members. We are grateful to the many investigators, passionate volunteers, and talented professionals who assisted with this effort. Our work on this case is not finished. Although we collectively demonstrated the value of dogged determination, we still need to identify Lisa’s killer. There is no statute of limitations on murder, and the investigation remains open.

If you have any information about this case, please call Investigator Hendricks at (919) 245-2951.