Disaster response tested in drill at Lumberton Correctional Institution

It was gory. People were screaming. Ambulances came with sirens blaring. Bodies were everywhere.

The scene was a mock airplane crash disaster drill at Lumberton Correctional Institution on November 9. The Department of Correction facility conducts annual medical drills, but this was the first to involve outside agencies. About 100 first responders representing highway patrol, sheriff’s departments, fire, rescue, the Red Cross and other agencies participated in the event.

The airplane crash scenario was chosen because of the prison’s proximity to the Lumberton airport just a couple of miles away. As one would expect, the prison’s security measures were on high alert.

Inmates created props for the exercise and medical staff created other effects to make the injuries appear real.
Lumberton administrator Sandra Thomas said the exercise was conducted without a flaw and proved extremely valuable not only to the prison staff but to agencies involved.

Wake Tech honors fallen Correction Officers and employees

RALEIGH, Nov 9 - Wake Tech Community College honored 10 Division of Prisons correctional officers and employees killed in the line of duty as it dedicated a portion of the memorial wall on its new Public Safety Education Campus. 

Each person was recognized in a video tribute and a candle was lit in their memory as a rose was placed at the memorial wall.  The NCDOC Honor Guard escorted family members and representatives from the various prisons where these employees served.

The officers and employees honored and their dates of death were:
James Chesser   12/28/1939   Central Prison
Kermit Jackson  7/21/1960  Alexander Correctional Center
Earl Strickland  6/2/1969   Robeson Correctional Center
Jenette Fish  5/19/1975  Triangle Correctional Center
Randall Cupp  6/5/1986   Alexander Correctional Center
Alan Kirk  7/15/1991   Caledonia Correctional Center
Leslie Besci  6/29/1992   Sandhills Youth Center
Sarah Valentine  2/13/1997   Odom Correctional Institution
David Anthony  10/28/1998  Iredell Correctional Center
Shannon Smith  11/9/1999  Johnston Correctional Institution

Additional sections of the memorial wall will be decicated to firefighters and law enforcement officers.

View more photos from this event on our Flickr photostream

State’s roadways cleaned during Fall Sweep

RALEIGH – State residents and interstate travelers will notice thousands of miles of cleaner highways as a result of the Fall Litter Sweep conducted by the North Carolina Division of Prisons. In total, prison inmates collected 32,456 bags of litter along 3,648 miles of roadway during the Fall Litter Sweep 2010 from September 18 to October 2.
State prison facilities contributed 46,664 inmate man hours to the litter reduction efforts, Division of Prisons Director Bob Lewis announced today.
“The appreciation of the citizens of North Carolina is apparent after each of our Litter Sweeps based on comments received by this agency and by the Department of Transportation,” Lewis said. “The results of the Fall Litter Sweep are yet another example of the excellent cooperation and dedication we continually see from our employees when faced with important challenges.”

Each year, the Litter Sweep is conducted during the fall and spring. Adopt-a-Highway volunteers, local governments, schools, churches, businesses, concerned citizens and inmates conduct community cleanups in all 100 counties across the state.

Polk Correctional Institution has new leader

BUTNER - Lawrence Solomon, a 29-year Department of Correction veteran, has been named the new administrator at Polk Correctional Institution.

Polk Correctional Institution is a prison for approximately 1,010 male inmates ages 19-25.  It has 545 officers and administrative employees.

Solomon spent 26 years of his corrections career working at Caledonia Correctional Institution, where he was named administrator in 2006. He retired in 2009. For three years, he was administrator at Odom Correctional Institution.

Solomon also commanded the Division of Prisons’ Central Region Prison Emergency Response Team.

The Enfield native has an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Halifax Community College.

Solomon succeeds Randy Lee, who was promoted to administrator of the Division of Prison’s Central Region.

New superintendent named at Harnett Correctional Institution

LILLINGTON – Carlton Joyner is the new superintendent at Harnett Correctional Institution.

The facility houses 850 medium-custody male inmates, and it employs 385 officers and administrative staff members. It offers a wide range of educational and vocational programs for inmates. It is home to the state’s only in-prison treatment program for sex offenders and a newly opened school that teaches inmates to become barbers. Correction Enterprises operates a plant at Harnett CI to process meat and frozen foods for the state’s prisons.

Joyner, a 26-year Department of Correction veteran, began his career as a correctional officer at Central Prison. He worked his way through the ranks in correctional programs, most recently coordinating transition and re-entry efforts for the Division of Prisons.

Joyner has a bachelor’s degree in political science from N.C. Central University. He has completed the Department of Correction’s leadership development program and the state’s Certified Public Managers Program.