The House Select Committee on Community Relations, Law Enforcement and Justice held it’s first meeting on September 2, 2020.

View the list of legislative members here.

View the list of non-legislative members here.

The purpose of this meeting was for Committee members to hear an overview of the current state of the NC criminal justice system and learn more about law enforcement indicators.

Overview of the NC Criminal Justice System

Jessica Smith, UNC School of Government

NC charged 1.9 million crimes in 2019

  • 1.6 million misdemeanor charges
    • 6.66% violent
    • 93.3% nonviolent
    • 1 million traffic offenses
  • 343,ooo felony charges
    • 16.4% violent
    • 83.6% nonviolent
    • 33% (112,648) charges were drug related

Jessica noted that the group should consider the folowing factors that influence who enters the criminal justice system:

  • Health services
  • Employment
  • Education
  • Housing
  • Criminal record
  • Fines and fees
  • Driver’s license suspensions
  • Family stability

 

Law Enforcement Indicators: Community Response, Use of Force, Community Engagement

Duren Banks, Division for Applied Justice Research, RTI International

This presentation was provided to the Committee to give an overview of current data relating to community and police interactions.

 

 

 

 

 

The Committee had a meaningful discussion on these data points and will meet again later this month.