Release date: 11/20/2018
(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today announced that Waynesville residents Chief Bill Hollingsed and Judge Bradley Letts received the Attorney General’s Dogwood Award. These awards are given annually to honor North Carolinians who are dedicated to keeping people safe, healthy, and happy in their communities.
“It has been a pleasure to partner with Chief Hollingsed on a variety of criminal justice issues,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “He is forward-thinking, energetic, and engaged in some of the toughest issues our law enforcement community is facing. Specifically, he is making a real difference in confronting the opioid epidemic and in recruiting the best and brightest to serve as law enforcement officers.”
Chief Hollingsed is the Chief of Police for the Waynesville Police Department. He helped lead the department’s implementation of a law enforcement assisted diversion program in Waynesville, which connects people who are struggling with addiction and convicted of misdemeanors with treatment resources instead of jail time. He was also an advocate for the HOPE Act, which became law earlier this year and provides additional tools to law enforcement officers so they can confront the opioid epidemic in their communities. Chief Hollingsed serves as Chair of the Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission and in that role he has supported school safety training for officers and helped launch the Criminal Justice Fellows program, which creates a path for more young people to get a college education and become criminal justice officers in North Carolina.
“I’m proud to honor Judge Letts’ work on pretrial release and accountability,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “As we work to improve fairness, public safety and address growing criminal justice costs, his leadership will be extremely important.”
Judge Bradley Letts is the senior resident Superior Court Judge for Judicial District 30B of the North Carolina Superior Court. He has served on the court since 2009. Judge Letts is leading the planning and implementation of a pilot pretrial release program in Haywood and Jackson counties. The program would reform pretrial release practices to further individual success and public safety.
A full list of 2018 Dogwood Award Recipients is below:
- Jim Albright, Director, Guilford County Emergency Services, Greensboro
- Asa Buck, Carteret County Sheriff, Beaufort
- Mike Cannon, co-founder of JCANS, Wilson
- Becky Cannon, co-founder of JCANS, Wilson
- J.H Corpening, Chief District Court Judge, 5th Judicial District, Wilmington
- Debbie Dalton, founder of The Hunter Dalton #HDLife Foundation, Cornelius
- Bill Hollingsed, Chief of Police, Waynesville Police Department, Waynesville
- Monika Johnson-Hostler, Executive Director, North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Raleigh
- William Lassiter, Deputy Commissioner of Juvenile Justice, North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Raleigh
- Bradley Letts, Superior Court Judge, 30B Judicial District, North Carolina Superior Court, Waynesville
- Spencer Merriweather, District Attorney, Mecklenburg County, Charlotte
- Kenneth Shultz, Chief of Police, High Point Police Department, High Point
- John Somerindyke, Lieutenant, Fayetteville Police Department, Fayetteville
- Kurtis Stewart, Board Chair of the New Bern Area of Improvement, New Bern/Durham
- Nicole Sullivan, Director, Reentry, Programs and Services, North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Raleigh
- Meade Horton Van Pelt, Executive Director, The Harrelson Center, Wilmington
Contact:
Laura Brewer (919) 716-6484