Final GPAC of the year will be held tonight
By John Joyce
Published in News on November 6, 2014 1:46 PM
The final Goldsboro Partners Against Crime call-in of 2014 will be held tonight in the City Council chambers of old City Hall at 6 p.m.
The call-ins serve as notification for violent offenders with a past criminal history.
Since the project's inception in 2012, a total of 117 offenders have been notified.
After each notification, the new crop of offenders is added to a watch list that informs authorities of the next time that person has any interaction with police.
To date, only 13 of the 117 offenders notified have reoffended.
GPAC coordinator and GPD Violent Crimes Task Force member, Capt. Theresa Chiero , said typically only 10 percent of those notified in any of the communities known to operate programs such as GPAC wind up reoffending.
"This time I will be bringing in 15 male offenders," she said.
GPAC call-ins are open to the public, and the community is encouraged to attend.
Community involvement is key to diminishing and solving crime, and city officials and lawmen agree that the biggest hindrance to their efforts in battling crime is the fact that citizens -- both witnesses and victims -- are reluctant to come forward with information that might help lead to arrests.
Generally, the community portion of the call-ins consist of representatives from Wayne County Public Schools, a jobs program and a parent of a child lost to street violence. The offenders are then addressed by top law enforcement representatives and state and federal attorneys warning them that their next crime could result in federal prison time.
The call-in ends with a short video of past offenders -- one who listened, one who went to jail, and one murdered in the street not long after being called in.