Press Releases

Department of Public Safety Secretary Erik A. Hooks and other state officials held a dedication today to officially open the state-of-the-art Firearms Training Center at Samarcand Training Academy in Moore County. The North Carolina General Assembly allocated $2.89 million to construct the training center for correctional and probation/parole officers, as well as other law enforcement officials, to receive firearms and tactical training. Secretary Hooks said the Firearms Training Center will provide the necessary training officers need to safely do their jobs.

What: Governor’s Crime Commission Quarterly Meeting When: Thursday, June 8, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Where: Governor’s Crime Commission, First Floor Conference Room, 1201 Front St., Raleigh Who: Governor Roy Cooper will attend and hear reports on grant priorities and the status on current grants. New members will also be sworn in. Presenters include:

Corrections and law enforcement officers are seeking inmate Tony Meeks (#0485911), who has escaped from Gaston Correctional Center, a minimum-security facility in Dallas. Meeks, 40, is serving a nine-year, 11-month sentence for robbery with a dangerous weapon and was scheduled for release in September 2020. Meeks is from Gaston County.

WHAT: North Carolina Department of Public Safety Secretary Erik A. Hooks, along with other DPS leadership, government officials and community members, will participate in the dedication of the new Samarcand Training Academy Firearms Training Center in Moore County.

An inmate who escaped from the Gaston Correctional Center Friday morning is back in custody after being captured late this afternoon. Members of the prison staff, along with the Gastonia Police Department, captured Tony Meeks in Gastonia around 5:40 p.m.   Meeks, who is from Gaston County, now faces escape charges. He will be demoted from the minimum custody facility in Dallas to one of the state’s higher security facilities.

Agents with the State Bureau of Investigation arrested a Gates County sheriff’s deputy on Friday, May 26, on sexual assault charges of a prisoner in his custody, and his case went before a Grand Jury in Hertford County this morning. Deputy Patrick Batts, a six-month employee of the Gates County Sheriff’s Office, is charged with sexual contact by a custodian, obstruction of justice and first degree sexual offense.

Severe storms and tornadoes swept through North Carolina late Wednesday evening, damaging homes, toppling trees, closing roads and knocking out power to several Piedmont communities. “We’re extremely fortunate that there were no life-threatening injuries from this band of storms that struck North Carolina,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “It’s heartening to see community volunteers and first responders working so effectively to help communities that suffered damage.”

The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has named David Millis as the new superintendent at Hyde Correctional Institution in Swan Quarter. Millis is a 19-year corrections veteran who most recently served as assistant superintendent for custody and operations at Bertie Correctional Institution.  He began his career as a correctional officer at Pamlico Correctional Institution in 1998 and worked there for most of his career, advancing to the rank of captain.

Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies joined forces this week in Guilford County for Operation Arrow, a four-day operation than ran May 8-11 to serve outstanding criminal warrants and conduct searches of high-risk felons on probation or parole supervision.   Officers made 64 arrests, which included 37 absconders from probation or parole supervision. Firearms or ammunition were seized from 13 individuals who should not have possessed them and significant quantities of drugs and drug paraphernalia were confiscated during the week.

The State Highway Patrol will conduct a memorial service offering tribute to the 62 members who have fallen in the line of duty since 1929. Col. Glenn McNeill will provide remarks prior to a wreath dedication to take place at the SHP memorial.   WHAT: SHP Memorial Service WHERE: SBI Auditorium 3318 Garner Rd.