North Carolina Department of Public Safety

The NCDPS was established in 2011 under Governor Beverly Perdue's government reorganization plan, consolidating the Department of Correction, the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention into a single agency.¹ The merger aimed to streamline operations and improve coordination among public safety functions. The agency's first secretary was Reuben Young, a former district court judge and juvenile justice advocate.² Over time, the department has evolved to include divisions for adult correction, juvenile justice, law enforcement, emergency management, and information technology.

The department operates several major divisions. The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice manages state prisons, probation and parole, and juvenile facilities, supervising over 50,000 offenders. The State Highway Patrol, under the Law Enforcement division, provides traffic enforcement and public safety on North Carolina highways. Emergency Management coordinates disaster response, including hurricanes and winter storms, and works with FEMA. The department also oversees the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), which handles major criminal investigations, and the Alcohol Law Enforcement division.

NCDPS has faced significant challenges, including prison overcrowding, staffing shortages, and high-profile incidents. In 2021, the department implemented a new offender management system to improve data tracking. During Hurricane Florence in 2018, Emergency Management coordinated large-scale evacuations and recovery efforts.³ The department has also been involved in criminal justice reform, such as the 2017 Raise the Age law, which moved 16- and 17-year-olds from adult courts to juvenile jurisdiction, a major shift in juvenile justice policy.

Beyond its core functions, NCDPS operates the North Carolina Correctional Enterprise, which employs inmates in manufacturing and agriculture, producing goods like license plates and furniture. The department also runs the Governor's Highway Safety Program, which funds local traffic safety initiatives. A lesser-known unit is the Special Operations Response Team, trained for prison riots and hostage situations. Additionally, NCDPS maintains a K-9 corps within the Highway Patrol, and its Emergency Management division pioneered the use of social media for disaster communication in the state.

SBI

State Bureau of Investigation, a division of NCDPS handling major criminal investigations.

Raise the Age

2017 legislation moving 16- and 17-year-olds to juvenile jurisdiction.

Correctional Enterprise

Inmate work program producing goods and services.