By Virginia Bridges
The Charlotte Observer
RALEIGH — The agency that sets training standards for North Carolina sheriff deputies has pivoted on a proposal to allow deputies to use police powers for up to a year before completing basic law enforcement training.
The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Education and Standards Training Commission unanimously voted Friday to allow one-year probationary certification, but with explicit limits on when new deputies could use police powers, including making arrests.
The vote is the commission’s latest effort to modify a rule that went into effect in July that prevents deputies from performing policing duties until they complete 800 hours of law enforcement training.
Probationary deputies would have to complete local firearm training before carrying a gun, for instance. They could use law enforcement powers only when they are:
▪ Accompanied and supervised by certified officers.
▪ Preventing harm to themselves or others, or the escape of a dangerous individual.
▪ Encountering a felony, a breach of the peace, or another crime that could harm a person or destroy property.
The last exception was added due to concerns about liability and the expectations by the public for a uniformed deputy to take action if someone approached a group of people with a firearm.
“There’s an expectation to the unknowing public that they’re placing their safety in that person’s care at that instant,” said Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood.
Commission changes, changes back ‘probationary certification’
Sheriff deputies in North Carolina for decades were granted “probationary certification,” allowing them to complete basic training within a year of getting hired.
As part of a wave of criminal justice reforms, North Carolina leaders sought to standardize and upgrade training standards for all law enforcement agencies. The sheriffs commission voted to end the probationary certification in 2022, delaying implementation until July 2024.
Just as the new standards went into effect, commission members had started the process to revert to the one-year probationary system. They held a public hearing in August and expected a final vote on Nov. 22.
The rollback was needed, supporters said, because it would help sheriffs fill empty positions.
Most sheriffs wouldn’t put deputies out on patrol without basic training, said Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman, chair of the commission.
But some sheriffs were concerned it was a step in the wrong direction, including Blackwood.
In November, Blackwood said new deputies should complete basic training prior to getting to work, just as the North Carolina Highway Patrol and police officers must do.
‘It matters to the public we serve’
The commission’s unanimous vote Friday moves the proposal into a months-long consideration process. A public hearing on the rule will be held April 30 and the public can comment on the proposal through June 16, according to the commission’s agenda.
The commission could vote on the rule for a final time on June 22, possibly resulting in it going into effect on Sept. 1
Norman and Blackwood in separate interviews Friday said that they support the new proposal.
The new provision both helps sheriffs who are struggling to hire deputies, and those who want to ensure deputies are trained and prepared for the fast-moving situations they will encounter, both men said.
Blackwood said he is grateful for the commission, the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association and the legal staff working “to make sure we get this right,” he said.
“Because it matters to the public that we serve,” Blackwood said.
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Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
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