Forsyth County could
gain domestic violence
pilot program
BY CHANEL DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
A new program
designed to combat domes
tic violence and give vic
tims peace of mind could
be introduced into Forsyth
County, if approved by the
N.C. Senate.
Allison's Law is a pilot
program, attached to bill
HB 740, to track those con
victed of domestic violence
with the use of a GPS
bracelet.
The bill would allow a
judge to determine if a
defendant that the court
finds has cnmmittrH an art
of domestic violence can
be subject to electronic
monitoring by means of a
global positioning system
tracking device or similar
device as a form of relief.
Authorities and victims
would be alerted when an
offender is near the vic
tim's home, school or
work.
The program could
begin as early as Jan. 1, ?
2016.
The bill passed the
House chamber 119-0 on
April 28,2015, and is wait
ing to be heard in the
Senate. A statewide bill
was passed unanimously in
the House in the 2013 ses
sion, however it failed to be
heard in the Senate in the
2014 session.
"In 2013, the bill got
out of the house but it did
not get pass the Senate,"so
we decided to make it into
a pilot program instead.
That way, we could just test
it locally first and prove the
concept, before bringing it
back a session from now,"
said House Rep. Ed Hanes
Jr.
The North Carolina
Coalition Against
Domestic Violence, law
enforcement and the
Department of Public
Safety have been working
with legislatures, including
Forsyth County's Reps.
Donny Lambeth, Hanes,
Evelyn Terry and Debra
Conrad, and discussing
some of the issues and
practical considerations of
the legislation.
Councilman James
Taylor, chair of the city's
Public Safety Committee,
said that he welcomes the
proposed pilot-program to
the community.
"I commend the local
delegation for calling for
GPS monitoring to track
the location of those who
are convicted of domestic
violence," Taylor said. "I
feel that the proposed
domestic violence pilot
program is an excellent
program that will address a
pressing issue of domestic
violence here in our com
munity. The City of
Winston-Salem has worked
to hire additional public
safety personnel to solve
domestic violence-related
crimes. However, more has
to be done by all agencies
to make a difference."
The bill is named after
Allison Gaither, who was
fatally stabbed in 2009 near
her home in Ardmore by
her estranged husband,
Cory Gaither. At the time,,
Allison had just taken out a
50-B protective order
against her husband.
According to police, he still
came to her home, stabbed
her and then fled to
Davidson County where he
hung himself.
The bill will allow the
N.C. Department of Safety
to decide the overall cost,
the device type, the moni
toring regulations of the
program and the require
ments needed for the
offender to participate in
the program.
"The offender would
have a bracelet on them at
all times, while periodical
ly throughout the day that
bracelet would track where
they are. If they came with
in a certain number of feet
within the victim, the
bracelet would go off and
alert the authori
ties," Hanes
explained.
Taylor said
that the program
offers a sense of
accountability for
those who've
been ordered to
follow the guide
lines of the pro
tective oraer issued
by a judge and a sense of
safety for the victims
involved.
"We have seen reoccur
ring domestic violence
cases in our community
that have turned deadly,
because there was no real
way 10 ensure mai aousers
were following court
orders and staying away
from their victims" the
councilman said. "GPS
monitoring will give use
the ability to protect vic
tims and to closely monitor
convicted abusers. This is a
step in the right direction to
keep our community safe."
The Department of
Public Safety will report to
the Joint Legislative
Oversight Committee on
Justice and Public Safety
on the effectiveness of the
program by April 1, 2018.
That report is expected to
include any recommenda
tions regarding the continu
ation, expansion, or elimi
nation of the pilot program,
as well as costs associated
with implementing the pro
gram or any recommended
legislation.
Hanes said that in other
states that have similar pro
grams, like Florida, the
instances of offenders com
ing back and harming the
victim has gone down dras
tically because they know
they are being watched. He
said that means the victims
are able to get their lives
back.
"The victims not only
feel safer, they feel like
they're constantly being
watched and someone is
out there working with
them to protect them from
a re-assault," Hanes said.
"That's what it's all about.
We want to focus on the
victims, their families and
making them feel safe."
Taylor
Hants
Reforming Baltimore police may need U.S. oversight
BY BEN NUCKOLS AND MICHAEL BIESECKER
AQQnriATun PDRW
BALTIMORE ? Months before a young black man died of the broken neck he suf
fered during what Baltimore's top prosecutor called an illegal arrest, the city's mayor and
police commissioner said the department needed reform and asked the U.S. Justice
Department for help reviewing officer misconduct.
Now that Freddie Gray is buried, six officers are charged in his death and an uneasy
calm has returned to the streets, critics are wondering whether city leaders are capable of
implementing the change the city needs without the direct, intensive oversight that comes
with a full-fledged civil rights investigation resulting in a federal consent decree.
Democratic Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has already pushed back against this
possibility, saying it would deprive Baltimore's leaders from having a say in fighting
crime in one of the nation's most violent major cities, with more than 200 homicides a
year.
Nobody wants the Department of Justice to come andjak? over our city," she said
last week. '/r
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch was in Bait/more on Tuesday to meet with
Gray's family and faith leaders. Justice Department<>?icials accompanying her included
the head of die civil rights division, Vanita Gupta, r
Baltimore's leaders should welcome federal jpversight, because it's doubtful any
police department can fix itself from within, said Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the
University ot Calitornia
Irvine School of Law.
Consent decrees have been
mostly effective since
Congress responded to the
Rodney King beating in Los
Angeles by granting the
Justice Department the
power in 1994 to sue police
departments for civil rights
violations.
Los Angeles went
through it, and proved that it
works, said Chemerinsky,
who has studied reform
efforts there.
The Justice Department
has negotiated settlements
with 21 other police depart
ments since then; Seattle and
New Orleans are currently
under consent decrees, and.
Cleveland's police depart
ment is negotiating one.
The Justice Department
already announced a sepa
rate federal probe of Gray's
death. And a broad civil
rights investigation would
not begin unless federal
authorities conclude the
ongoing voluntary review is
insufficient.
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