AG 1999 01 19 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Cabarrus Advisory Board has had good participation fi.om a core group, including the Division of Community Corrections (Probation/Parole), law enforcement, mental health, Community Service, Community Penalties, the health department and several community representatives. Both the superior court judge and the district court judge have attended as many meetings as their schedules allowed and are supportive of the board's program decisions. In order to insure the support of all judges sitting in Cabarrus County and the district attorney, a committee of the board will meet with them to provide information about the program to be implemented and the reasoning on which the program decision was made. The board reviewed the local criminal justice process. The purpose of this exercise is to assure that eveo'one understands how each part of the process works and how particular individuals and agencies in the system relate, and t.o identify problems the board may wish to address. A general flow chart of the criminal justice system in North Carolina was shown to board members, who then talked through the process, adding details about each part, including practices specific to Cabarrus County. The facilitator interje~:ted various data - such as numbers and types of arrests, conviction numbers and rates, etc. - throughout the discussion. A description of the criminal justice system/process, including practices unique to Cabarrus County. and all data required for the Community-Based Corrections Plan, tbllows: CRIM~'~ ?_'STI. CF SYSTEM FLOW CHART AND NARRATIVE CRIME REPOR TED,OBSER} ~ED Usually the criminal justice process begins with a complaint to either a law enforcement officer or a magistrate from a citizen. Sometimes law enforcement officers observe the commission of a crime directly. Law enforcement is provided by the Cabarrus County sheriff's department and by police departments in Concord and Kannapolis. Sheriffs' departments are responsible for enforcing the law outside city limits, and police departments have jurisdiction inside city limits. Enforcement of traffic laws is also handled by the Highway Patrol. The sheriff in Cabarrus County has a staffof 144; the Concord police department, 105 (95 sworn and' 10 civilian) and the Kannapolis police department, 97 (81 sworn and 16 civilian). OPTIONS: NO INTERk~ENTION, CIIATION, SUIvEVIONS, ARREST WARRANT After a crime is reported or observed, there are four potential courses of action: no intervention (or a warning), issuance of a citation, issuance of a summons, or issuance of an arrest warrant. A summons or citation does not require a subject to be taken into custody. North Carolina law gives discretion to Iaw enforcement officers and/or magistrates to make this initial decision. In certain cases, a taw enforcement officer or magistrate may decide to take no action. For example, Public Drunkenness is no longer a crime in North Carolina (though Drunk