The North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS) is an umbrella agency that carries out many of the state's law enforcement, emergency response and homeland security functions. The department was created in 1977 as the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. In 2012, the North Carolina Department of Correction and the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention were merged with Crime Control & Public Safety to create the new agency.[2]
The department is headed by a secretary of public safety, who is appointed by the governor of North Carolina. The secretary is a member of the North Carolina Cabinet. The most recent Secretary Erik Hooks resigned in August 2021.[3]
The Department of Public Safety is headquartered in the Archdale Building along Halifax Mall in Raleigh.[4] It is broken into sections that cover a wide range of regulatory and law enforcement tasks.[5]
The juvenile section has the following juvenile long-term commitment facilities, called "youth development centers":[6]
Over the recommendations of the prison staff, a private maintenance contract with the Keith Corporation and the manner in which the contract was renewed resulted in an FBI investigation as reported by the News & Observer.[8][9]
At the prison located in Tabor City, NC, as reported by WECT in February 2014, the new administrator was accused of forcing employees to pay the new administrator for promotions through an administrator-designed "fundraising" campaign. According to WECT, "still, an October e-mail sent by Prison Administrator Patsy Chavis to staff reads, "We cannot require anyone to pay...however supervisors need to be encouraged to participate... Please let me know if you encounter any resistance or unwillingness to pay.".[10] After an internal investigation lasting only a few weeks, the state found no "wrongdoing" in the fundraising effort but halted the program until "state prison administrators and auditors can develop formal policy guidelines for employee fundraising activities.".[11]
Another issue at the same prison, in February 2014, was the death of a 39-year-old inmate, in which an autopsy was needed to determine the cause of death. The cause of death was originally reported as having been natural causes;[12] however, a WECT report from July 2015 revealed an autopsy performed by the North Carolina Chief Medical Examiner's Office concluded his death was caused by methanol toxicity, possibly due to "drinking a mixture of hand sanitizer and other unidentified fluids." According to the same report, the Department of Public Safety conducted an internal investigation, but did not publicly release their findings.[13]
In June 2017, the Charlotte Observer launched a series of articles that found a hidden world of drugs, sex, and gang violence – much of it fueled by employees within the prison system. As a result of these articles, the North Carolina General Assembly has directed state prison leaders to turn over information about contraband, hiring practices, and employee misconduct. Another article covered how tax dollars were used to fund drugs, cell phones, and abuse in the prison system.[14] An additional story found that the "staff shortages in North Carolina's prisons have climbed to dangerous levels over the past two years."[15]
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that the 5 deaths of officers in 2017 may have been prevented by better staffing.[16]
After its review, the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety could make recommendations to the full legislature before it convenes for the 2018 session in May 2018.[17]
WBTV reported that a prison employee stated that prison administrators have taken steps to manipulate the numbers in an attempt to cover the deep extent of the staffing shortage.[18] Another report by the same station stated that safety audit teams routinely overlook safety problems to benefit their friends. "You and I both know that when I go to your facility or when you go to my facility to look at security issues, we sort of take a cursory glance because we don't want to hurt our buddies' feelings at another facility,[19]