Giving thanks for help at the holidays

Two North Carolina families are thankful this holiday season for NCDOC probation officers who were there to help them after serious traffic accidents.

Probation officer Danny Liles was about to break for lunch in Siler City last Friday when he came upon the scene of an accident that had just happened – a woman’s car had crashed into a telephone pole.  Liles and others who rushed to the car found the victim unresponsive behind the wheel.  The car was in gear and the door locked.  They tried to rock the car to rouse the woman, but that didn’t work.

Moments later State Troopers arrived and smashed a rear window to open the driver’s door. One trooper quickly assessed the driver and found she was not breathing. Liles and another trooper carefully removed her from the car and began CPR, with Liles handling the compressions. They continued CPR until paramedics arrived to relieve them. The woman is now at home recovering from a previously unknown heart condition that’s believed to have caused the accident.

PPO Margret Crumroy was on the way to work in Scotland County last Tuesday morning when she saw a truck skid on black ice and smash in to a utility pole -- sending sparks flying as the pole crashed down. Officer Crumroy assisted a mother and her scared children out of the wrecked vehicle and remained with them, providing comfort until help arrived.  After emergency responders arrived, Officer Crumroy helped direct traffic around the accident scene.

Thanks to both officers for a job well done!

Correction Enterprises wants to make your pictures perfect

Eric Malave, right, supervises inmates

RALEIGH – From retirement certificates to poster art for offices, Correction Enterprises has branched out into framing and matting. It is yet another service being offered that not only provides an employable skill for inmates, but also provides state employees with a new option for framing at competitive prices.

The framing and matting operation is located right off Martin Luther King Boulevard at the Quick Copy Center behind the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh. To start, two honor grade inmates from Raleigh Correctional Center for Women just around the corner will be training and working on framing and matting. Eventually, Correction Enterprises hopes to have as many as ten inmates working in the frame shop.

The inmates will work under the direction of Eric Malave who has more than 30 years experience in framing and matting.

“I started in the business learning the very basics and studied the whole process,” said Malave. “I will start the inmates out training on samples and gradually guide them through to the point where they will wind up with a skill that could get them get a job when they are released.”

Inmates cut custom frame

Mary Bullard, Quick Copy Center manager, added that with the skills the inmates will obtain, they could work at any frame shop or potentially work towards operating their own business.

State employees who would like more information about the framing and matting service should visit this link: http://www.correctionenterprises.com/framing/

Perdue praises law enforcement, correction leaders

Gov. Bev Perdue addressed law enforcement and correction leaders at the N.C. Governor’s Crime Commission Safe Communities Conference in Greensboro.

The conference is held once every three years and draws more than 500 professionals in law enforcement, corrections, judicial and victim services.

“This conference is a testament to our ongoing commitment to being tough on crime, and even more importantly, smart on crime,” Gov. Perdue said.

As Governor, Perdue has worked with the General Assembly to toughen the probation and parole system, to increase access to information for law enforcers and to cut through red tape to speed warrant processing.

At the conference, Gov. Perdue recounted how she rode along with a probation officer one night and saw first-hand the challenges faced by probation officers. 

Turner South presented 2010 Governor’s Award for Excellence

Turner South, a classification coordinator at Marion Correctional Institution, received the Governor's Award for Excellence this week in the category of human relations.

Early one evening last February, Turner picked up a young man who was walking along an interstate highway, wearing only the green garb of a minimum custody inmate. The man told Turner he was trying to get to a Wal-Mart.

On their way and over the next hour or so, Turner made several phone calls and learned that the young man was a former DOC inmate who had been released on detainer to a local law enforcement agency earlier in the day.  However, the local jail eventually found no need to hold him and released him with no means to get home.

At Wal-Mart, Turner bought some new clothes for the former inmate. He spoke by phone to the young man’s mother and arranged for him to have a room overnight at a local motel.

The state does what it can to prepare inmates for successful release, but not all releases are the same, as Turner learned that night. Ultimately, Turner was a great ambassador for the State of North Carolina: He showed compassion and used his own resources to treat another human being with dignity and respect.

Chief PPO Rodney Trogdon presented 2010 Governor’s Award for Excellence

Rodney Trogdon is a chief probation/parole officer in Randolph County with 24 years of service as a state employee. Rodney received the Governor's Award for Excellence this week for his commitment of service to the public and his fellow officers, specifically in three areas.

First is Rodney’s support for Relay for Life, raising money for cancer research. He began a fund-raising motorcycling event, call Angela’s Ride, named in honor of his wife who died of breast cancer in 1999.

The event has raised $22,500 for Community Corrections’ contribution to Relay for Life.
Rodney is also leading Randolph Fellowship Homes Inc. as it seeks to raise nearly $370,000 for a half-way house for men seeking to kick alcoholism and drug addiction. Rodney is president of the organization’s board.

As a leader in the N.C. Probation/Parole Association, Rodney established a car show to raise money to help pay for seminars and workshops. The money also contributes to an officers benevolent fund for medical, financial or other family need.