June 2019
Law Enforcement/Criminal Justice Headlines from Across the Nation
To keep up on all that is happening across the country, click on the link below to read news articles related to law enforcement/criminal justice. https://www.policeone.com/law-enforcement-news/
Reaccreditation of the North Carolina Justice Academy
We are very excited to announce the reaccreditation of the North Carolina Justice Academy by the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission!
The Justice Academy recently completed a review that was conducted by the staff of the North Carolina Criminal Justice Standards Division. The Standards Division staff accepted our
application for reaccreditation and conducted a site visit to tour facilities, and to confirm the information on the application. Facilities, equipment, and training records were reviewed to
ascertain compliance with all training standards as required in the North Carolina Administrative Code.
The Standards Division staff gave the Justice Academy a favorable report and found us to be in compliance with 12 NCAC 09B.0200. Based on favorable site visit reports, the Standards
Division staff shall reaccredit on behalf of the Commission. In accordance with the Administrative Code, this action was reported to the Education and Training Committee on
Wednesday, May 22, 2019, at its scheduled meeting. On Friday, May 24, 2019, the Education and Training Committee recommended to the full Commission the approval of the Justice
Academy.
We are pleased to receive our reaccreditation for the next five (5) year period. The following School Directors should be recognized for their diligent efforts:
- Floyd Yoder Specialized Instructor Training – Explosives and Hazardous Materials
- Chad Thompson Specialized Instructor Training – Firearms
- Terry Miller Specialized Instructor Training – Driver Training
- Richard White Specialized Instructor Training – Subject Control & Arrest Techniques
- Richard White Specialized Instructor Training – Physical Fitness
- Terry Miller Speed Measuring Instrument Instructor/Operator Training
- Jessica Bullock Instructor Training
We would be remiss if we did not recognize the invaluable assistance of the following support staff:
Julynn Washington, Carolyn Pope, and Amit Sujanani
In addition, the Justice Academy would not have been successful without the assistance of a great number of individuals that keep our campus operating. From grounds to maintenance
and housekeeping, from media specialists to financial services and our library, we have one top shop!
Visit us in Edneyville and Salemburg; we will be eager to assist you with your training needs. Thank you for your continued support!
Report on the 1st Annual Acadis Readiness Summit
The NCJA hosted the 1st Annual Acadis Readiness Summit in Edneyville on April 15th through the 19th. The purpose of the summit was to meet with other states that utilize Acadis and discuss successes, challenges, and ways to expand the use of the training management database. Over 100 individuals were in attendance, representing nineteen other states, several federal agencies, NC DHHS (FTA), and vendor staff (Envisage). NCJA benefited greatly in learning how we can expand our usage and functionality of the Acadis platform. Numerous positive comments were received from the vendor (Envisage) and other representatives from the various agencies on the professionalism of Academy staff and the overall quality/benefits of the Summit. Director Allen would like to extend his thanks everyone involved who made the summit a success. (Acknowledgments to Director Allen for this write-up/summary of the Acadis summit).
Advanced FTO: The North Carolina Justice Academy will no longer offer Advanced FTO classes. The subject matter from Advanced FTO will be included in the Basic FTO course.
Should you have any questions, please contact Richard Baric via email: rbaric@ncdoj.gov.
New Faces at the Academy
Whitney Givens (Salemburg): Whitney Givens joined the Academy as our Program Assistant/Quality Assurance team member as part of the Research and Development team lead by Dan Worley. Whitney graduated from UNC-Pembroke with a degree in Criminal Justice.
Samantha Guin (Salemburg): Samantha Guin started working with the Academy as part of the housekeeping staff on April 22nd. We are glad to have Samantha onboard as part of the Academy team.
Nick Dailey (Salemburg): Nicky Dailey has begun working at the Academy as a General Utility Worker. Nick has many years of experience in maintenance and will be a great addition
to the Academy team.
Amber Burgess-Cox (Edneyville): Ms. Burgess-Cox has joined the Academy as a developer and will be working on Domestic Violence. Her position is funded by the GCC grant through
September 30, 2019. Ms. Burgess-Cox holds a Master’s Degree from Columbia College and she is a Sergeant with the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office. She currently serves as the Sergeant over Civil Process and Domestic Violence.
Dan Grossi (Edneyville): We are glad to have Dan onboard as part of the Academy team. Dan is the Academy’s Leadership Instructor/Developer. Dan brings over 12 years of law enforcement experience to the job. He holds a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Organizational Leadership.
Training Catalog for July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020
Looking for the new catalog? It’s available at this link: http://online.anyflip.com/lbju/ijxd/mobile/index.html. To view the classes on our website, visit: http://ncja.ncdoj.gov/Courses-Offered-by-NCJA.aspx. Registration for ALL our classes is on our portal: https://ncja-portal.acadisonline.com.
2019 General Instructor Update: Professional Resources
Don’t forget, if you are an instructor you must take this one-hour online course to keep your
certification. To register for the course, go to: http://ncja.ncdoj.gov/getdoc/5c389c34-115c49dd-800b-edaeca183c0b/More_Online_Courses.aspx
2019 In-Service Courses Available Online
Many of the 2019 in-service topics are available on our NCJA Training Portal. To view the complete list of online courses and instructions, visit our webpage at https://ncja.ncdoj.gov/online.aspx. FYI: the online courses work best on the latest version of Chrome. To register for a course, go to NC Justice Academy Training Portal and follow the directions.
This Month’s Featured Article:
“A Look at Law Enforcement Suicide: Etiology, Prevention, and Intervention”
By Paul Phelan Jr., M.S., North Carolina Justice Academy (Edneyville)
Line of duty deaths among law enforcement officers are well documented by several outlets. Death by gunfire was once again the leading cause of line of duty deaths among law
enforcement officers for the year 2016 (Kulbarsh, 2017, n.p.). As alarming as these numbers are, law enforcement suicide is responsible for one hundred and eight law enforcement deaths
in the year 2016. Although suicide among law enforcement officers have seen a fourteen percent decrease between the years 2012 and 2016, suicide was responsible for more law
enforcement officer (LEO) deaths than gunfire (from others) and traffic crashes combined.
Agency heads such as Chiefs and Sheriffs can be instrumental in enacting agency wide policy changes. Subsequently, they can influence cultural change. By learning how to recognize and
respond to warning signs, supervisors, peers, family members, and others can support at-risk officers and encourage them to seek help (COPS, 2014). The International Association of
Chiefs of Police (IACP) confirms the above-mentioned warning signs, but provides agency wide protocols on how to respond to those warning signs. According to their brief, Breaking the
Silence, agencies should help facilitate prevention and intervention by considering the following protocols or actions:
• Routinely conduct an audit of mental health providers who are screening and providing services for at-risk officers.
• Departments can select and train peer support personnel.
• Departments can promote and enhance the employee assistance program.
• Departments should select mental health professionals who are familiar with the field, leverage technology, and develop wellness groups and support teams
• Reinforce family connections. (It is important to train the families of officers to understand the stressors of police work and familiarize them with at-risk indicators to support their loved ones).
• Offer mental wellness and suicide prevention training to officers, supervisors, and command staff (IACP, 2017).
Employee Spotlight
In the employee spotlight for this edition of the NCJA newsletter, we would like to introduce you to Susan Gillis, Instructor/Developer at the Salemburg campus. Susan is the NC Sheriff’s Training & Standards School Director for Telecommunications and teaches telecommunication courses at the Justice Academy. Some of these courses include the basic telecommunicator’s course as well as a telecommunicator supervisor’s course. Susan has been working in the field of telecommunication for approximately 30 years as a telecommunicator and an educator. She previously worked as a telecommunicator for Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office for 18 years and as a telecommunicator for Fayetteville Police Department for 3 years before joining the Justice Academy in 2010 to teach telecommunication.
Outside of her day job at the Justice Academy, Susan is busy with her dog, singing in her local choir as well as volunteering her time for several causes. One cause in particular is a program that supports local NC police officers through the Veteran Enforcers Motorcycle Association. Ms. Gillis was recently out in Tarboro, NC, donating her personal time, gas, energy and smiles to local p
rograms that support North Carolina officers. She volunteered to assist in the Veteran Enforcers Motorcycle Association (VEMA) biker poker run that helped to raise approximately $2200.00. VEMA’s mission is to recognize and pay homage to our military, law enforcement and public safety servants who have answered the call to duty.
Susan stays very active in several programs of this type. She consistently responds with the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team and travels to locations around the state that provide support to first responders after they experience traumatic events. She is always going above and beyond and represents the best of what NCJA strives to do in supporting NC first responders and their departments. NCJA is fortunate to have this type of dedication to the mission that exceeds expectations.
Job Postings
Our Job Bank webpage is one of our most viewed pages. To see current job openings, click on this link: http://ncja.ncdoj.gov/Job-Bank.aspx. If your agency has job openings, please complete the “Job Posting Template” and we will be glad to advertise it for you on our website.
Remember to like us on Facebook and Twitter to get daily updates and pictures from some of our classes. Please feel free to call or email me with your suggestions for training. We are here
for you!
Trevor Allen, Director
Interested in Submitting an Article for the Newsletter? If you are interested in submitting an article for the newsletter, please email Michael Cummings (mcummings@ncdoj.gov) or Jeffrey R. Zimmerman (jzimmerman@ncdoj.gov). Articles should be no more than 1,000 words.
