NC DPS Names New Deputy Secretary for Partnership Engagement
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RALEIGH Department of Public Safety Secretary Erik A. Hooks has named Caroline Valand as Deputy Secretary for Partnership Engagement. She will have oversight of the Governor’s Crime Commission; Private Protective Services Board and Alarm Systems Licensing Board; and Victim Services, which staffs the Crime Victims Compensation Commission.
“I am thrilled to have Caroline in this new role on the DPS leadership team,” stated Hooks. “Her valuable expertise in public engagement and partnership building will serve the DPS mission very well.”
Prior to accepting this position, Valand served as the executive director of the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission, which is the chief advisory body to the Governor and the DPS Secretary on crime and justice issues. In this role, Valand administered approximately $70 million in federal Department of Justice block grants, which a
Feds, state double down on secrecy of data on in-custody deaths Breaking down CMPD s release of body cam video in death of Harold Easter By Nick Ochsner | April 22, 2021 at 10:55 AM EDT - Updated April 22 at 10:55 AM
As communities across the nation continue to grapple with high-profile police killings, North Carolina officials have again refused to release information on the deaths of people who died in custody, citing guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The congressman who wrote the law requiring states to collect that information says both North Carolina and the U.S. DOJ are getting it wrong.
Jason deBruyn
Specifically,
Madan wrote, the law “would forbid the North Carolina Department of Public Safety” from revealing information from the collected forms.
U.S. DOJ cited that same statute
in its denial last week of a federal Freedom of Information Act request from the Watchdog Reporting Network for the same data.
And in an email this week, the Governor’s Crime Commission, the North Carolina agency responsible for collecting data under the federal law, again said it was prohibited from releasing its own version of the information – regardless of format.
“Information regarding deaths in custody of local law enforcement is not collected or maintained by GCC independently of the DCR-1A or BJA spreadsheets,” commission spokesperson Margaret Ekam said in an email. “Therefore, we do not have any public documents responsive to your request.”
On Air Today: Caroline Valand and Tim Parker on NC Traffic Stops
Caroline Valand of the Governor’s Crime Commission and Tim Parker of the Criminal Justice Analysis Center speak with 97.9 The Hill’s Brighton McConnell about a new report from the Department of Public Safety. The pair discuss the third and final part of a series on North Carolina traffic stops, which highlights how often police searched vehicles when pulled over and what drivers experienced more searches than others.