The North Carolina National Guard mobilized more than 6,250 soldiers and airmen for federal active duty during 2003. North Carolina leads all 54 states and territories in the number of soldiers and airmen mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War on Terror. The N.C. National Guard’s largest mobilization since World War II has deployed Guard personnel to such places as Iraq, Kuwait, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries in Southwest Asia as well as to Italy, Germany, Moldova and Micronesia.

The Department also completed the transfer of the former Division of Motor Vehicles Enforcement Section from the Department of Transportation to the N.C. Highway Patrol. The 364 transferred positions make up the Patrol’s Motor Carrier Enforcement Section. The merger streamlines the state’s highway safety efforts by putting all of the related law enforcement activities in one department.

Other highlights of the year for various divisions of CCPS include:

Administrative Services
The Fiscal Section adopted a document imaging system for storing and retrieval of payroll, accounts payable and other system documents that accelerates the processing of payments and reduces storage needs.

Alcohol Law Enforcement
ALE was awarded a $398,000 grant from the Governor's Crime Commission to combat underage drinking in North Carolina. The grant will address training, enforcement and regulation and will expand ALE’s successful “Keys to Life” program which targets youth with underage alcohol use/abuse prevention strategies.

The Center for Missing Persons trained 191 police departments, 76 sheriff's offices, and 36 state and university law enforcement and security agencies on the North Carolina AMBER Alert System. The NC AMBER Alert plan is posted to the Center's web site http://www.ncale.org/missingpersons.html.

Butner Public Safety
Butner Public Safety cleared two bank robberies with arrests and assisted other agencies in clearing out unsolved bank robberies.

Civil Air Patrol
North Carolina’s Civil Air Patrol Wing was recognized as having best Drug Demand Reduction Program in the nation, which was directly managed and supported by the division. The CAP provided operational, administrative and managerial support to several major state events including the First Flight Centennial Events in Kitty Hawk, Fayetteville's Festival of Flight, and aerial recon after Hurricane Isabel.

Emergency Management
Emergency Management coordinated the response efforts of the state to two major weather events in 2003. The February ice storm was the second major ice storm to strike the state in two months. Nine counties were declared disaster areas. The other major weather event was Hurricane Isabel.

EM houses and provides staff support to the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC). SERC was reorganized and expanded in 2003 to include representatives from emergency management, fire services, emergency medical services, law enforcement, agriculture, environmental management, occupational health and safety, the community colleges, transportation, and public health. There are five subcommittees – SARA Title III --“Community Right-to-Know Law”, Homeland Security Funding Priorities, Professional Standards & Interoperability, Technology, and Prevention & Mitigation. More than 32 subcommittee members participate in the Commission’s activities.

Emergency Management and various SERT agencies successfully conducted two federally evaluated nuclear power plant full-scale exercises in March and May. The SERT also conducted a pre-season hurricane exercise, which included a review of the I-40 lane reversal plan. A full-scale relocation from the State EOC to the Disaster Recovery Operations Center (DROC) was also conducted to demonstrate and test the SERT continuity of operations (COOP) plan. Division personnel also participated in exercises with the Department of Agriculture (Silent Farmland), Ft. Bragg (Orbit Comet), and the Division of Public Health (Triple Play – Parts I, II, and III).

Governor’s Crime Commission
The Governor's Crime Commission awarded over 350 grants totaling almost $35 million in 2003 and is currently administering 560 active grants with a total allocation of $79.6 million.

One of the more significant initiatives in 2003 dealt with the continued financial and program support of structured day programs for suspended and expelled youth across the state. The division conducted training and workshops for dozens of these programs that service over 1,000 students each day that have been suspended or expelled from school. Currently, 14 such programs are funded across the state at a total of about $5.1 million.

GCC also co-sponsored with the three U.S. Attorneys' offices a domestic violence training conference that focused on the issue in a year that saw a high number of domestic violence deaths in the state. Also, the GCC staff helped develop a standardized protective order form similar to neighboring states that should help with recognition and prosecution of such orders in North Carolina.

Law Enforcement Support Services
Law Enforcement Support Services loaned equipment to law enforcement agencies for undercover drug operations that resulted in 361 arrests, the seizure of $43,245 in contraband, and $4000 in cash.

LESS excess property program issued 5,321 items valued at $3,225,462 to 134 agencies in 66 counties at no charge to them. These numbers include 342 ready-to-use computers.

State Highway Patrol
The N.C. State Highway Patrol was reaccredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, one of only seven highway patrols in the nation to receive this distinction. This confirms that the Highway Patrol is maintaining strict adherence to a wide variety of internationally recognized standards for law enforcement.

The Patrol completed the fifth and final phase of the Criminal Justice Information Network's Mobile Data Network (CJIN-MDN). The mobile data network has 9,092 subscribers representing 312 law enforcement, fire, rescue, EMS, and other public safety providers throughout North Carolina. The network is the first step towards achieving interoperability among these partners. The Patrol also received a grant worth $1,490,250 towards the construction of ten new communication tower sites to expand a statewide 800 MHz voice communication network, which is the next requirement for total interoperability.

The Highway Patrol, in partnership with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Corporation, is in the process of offering health and wellness screenings to all of the Department’s employees. Done at no cost to the state, employees are able to screen for health risks such as high blood pressure or cholesterol levels, as well as a get comprehensive vision and hearing tests. One-on-one counseling is offered to each participant.